


Abducted

by Kenyancougar



Series: Abducted [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:39:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 49,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1920129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kenyancougar/pseuds/Kenyancougar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People close to Oliver start to go missing. How will Oliver find them, and what will happen when he does? A story about a true hero! Warning: Contains multiple mentions of torture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Walter

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic so please be kind!
> 
> Mic_RiddyBanon, thank you for your Beta assistance.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow. It belongs to CW.

_**Walter's POV** _

It was a cold, dark night in Starling City. The sky was filled with clouds, heavy with rain just waiting to fall. Walter thought it was fitting. It had been a long week with Thea going missing. He may not be her real father but she still felt like a daughter to him. When she made it home he was finally able to breathe easier. However, he was still worried about how the experience was going to affect her. She was a strong young woman and Walter simply hoped that she would be able to come back from this.

The sky opened up and it started to pour as he reached his car. He unlocked it and got in as quickly as he could, getting soaked wasn't high on the list of things he wanted to do tonight.

As he was putting the key in the ignition he heard a click right behind him. He nervously looked up into the rear view mirror to see a man with a black mask in his back seat holding a gun to his head.

"Struggling is useless." A deep voice said in his ear. The next thing he knew there was a cloth placed over his nose and mouth. "Not again." He thought as he drifted into darkness.

When Walter came to the first thing he noticed was his head was pounding. After a few deep breaths he risked opening his eyes. He noticed that he was in a cell with thick metal bars embedded into the rock walls. It was damp and cold, Walter reached out to the wall to steady himself as he stood.

He started to walk slowly to the front of the cell to try and look around more when he felt a cold tug on his wrist. Looking down Walter saw that there was a metal shackle with a heavy chain bolted into the rock wall. He realized that he wasn't going to be able to move more than a few feet around his cell.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting he began to be able to make out more of his surroundings. He was in the first of several similar cells. They lined three of the walls in a large room and on the fourth wall there was what appeared to be a very heavy metal door. The center of the room simply held a small wooden table.

It was nothing like the last prison Walter had been in. This was obviously meant to hold more than just him and he shuddered to think about who else would share his prison. He sat in the corner of his cell wondering what his fate was going to be.

_**Mixed POV** _

"Oliver, you need to see this!" Felicity called.

Oliver looked down from the top of the salmon ladder. He had been putting himself through a rigorous workout this evening, probably due to the fact that Slade had tried to tear his world apart recently.

"What's going on Felicity?" Oliver asked as he silently dropped from the ladder and walked over to her bank of computers. She brought up the news feed that she had just found.

"Braking News: Walter Steele, CFO of Starling National Bank, went missing this evening. He was last seen leaving Starling National Bank on his way to a meeting with Mayoral Candidate Moira Queen. His car and all personal effects were found still in the parking lot of Starling National. This is the second time Mr. Steele has gone missing…."

"Felicity…"

"I'm bringing up all the camera feeds around the bank." Felicity said, interrupting Oliver. "I'm also running facial recognition on anyone and everyone near the bank in the last twelve hours. If there is anything there, trust me, I'll find it."

Oliver turned at the sound of Diggle running down the stairs to the lair.

"Oliver, this was left on the dash of your car."

Diggle handed him a plain white envelope with his name written in bold, black letters on the front of it.

Oliver opened the envelope and after reading the note he threw it onto Felicity's desk on his way over to the dummy by the training mats. With a loud yell of anger and frustration he hit it with such force that he broke one of the arms off.

Diggle stepped up next to Felicity as she picked up the note and read it. In the same bold, black writing as the envelope was this message:

"This is just the beginning"

 


	2. Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Mic_RiddyBanon is my wonderful beta yet again!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.

**_Lance POV_ **

Lance walked into his apartment, exhausted from the recent events. Not only had Thea Queen been abducted by Slade Wilson, but he had arrested the man on the recommendation of the Arrow and then been arrested himself for doing so. While he was doing time for the Arrow he had suffered quite a beating from a fellow prisoner that he had helped put in prison. Lance could still feel the effects of that in the way his ribs hurt every time he moved.

Lance didn't regret his decision at all though. He had arrested the right man regardless of who told him to do so. The D.A. had been trying to get him to tell who the Arrow was, all they wanted was a name. What they didn't realize was that Lance wouldn't give up the name even if he did know who it was, which he didn't. Lance had told Laurel that just an hour ago. The man kept his identity a secret for a reason, there were people he was protecting, and Lance would  _not_  be the reason that secret was revealed.

He moved to the kitchen looking out the window and noted that the storm clouds had finally decided to open up and it was now pouring down outside. As he turned to his fridge to grab a drink he felt the unmistakable feel of cold steel on the back of his head.

"To struggle is useless." Said a deep voice behind him.

As he turned and looked at the reflection in the window he saw a man with a black mask standing directly behind him. Suddenly, a cloth was placed over his mouth and his world started to go dark.

* * *

 

**_Mixed POV_ **

Felicity was sitting at her computer watching Oliver on the salmon ladder, again. She was waiting for her babies to come up with some results from all of the searches she had running after Walter's disappearance, choosing to distract herself by watching Oliver work up a sweat during his workout.

At the same time as Oliver reached the top of the salmon ladder she heard Sara and Diggle come through the door at the top of the stairs, obviously in a deep discussion about what Diggle had brought for dinner. As they reached the bottom of the stairs Oliver silently dropped to the floor to grab his bottle of water sitting next to Felicity on the desk.

"How's your dad?" Oliver asked.

"He's fine. His ribs are still sore but other than that he's good." Sara replied.

"Who's hungry? I brought some Big Belly Burgers!" Diggle stated as he placed the take-out bags on the medical table where they usually spread out to eat.

Everyone gathered around and began to dig in to the burgers that Diggle brought, content to eat in silence after the stressful events of the last few days.

Just as Felicity was taking her first bite of her wonderful burger there was a beep from her computers, her searches had finally found something. Felicity rolled her desk chair over to her computer to bring up the results. The search through the video feeds around Starling National had come up with something. Felicity's breath caught in her throat as she pulled up the picture.

"Um, Guys!"

"What's wrong Felicity?" Oliver asked as they all walked over to her computer. Placing his hand on the back of her chair Oliver leaning over to see the picture.

Right at that moment Sara's phone rang and she became agitated quickly. Noticing this Oliver turned her direction to see what was wrong.

After a few short moments she hung up and turned to Oliver. "My dad's missing!" Sara stated.

"Oliver, you  _really_  need to see this!"

The urgency in Felicity's voice caused him to turn suddenly and actually focus on the picture before him. It wasn't a very clear picture but it was good enough for him to recognize the man in the photo.

"I killed him." Oliver stated as he turned to Diggle in disbelief.

* * *

 

**Mixed POV**

Walter looked up as he heard a sound from the door. He watched as a couple of guys in masks dragged in an obviously unconscious Lance. They took him into one of the cells and cuffed his arm as they had done to Walter before leaving, never saying a word.

After a few moments Walter noticed that Lance was starting to come to, groaning each time he moved.

"Are you alright Detective Lance?" Walter asked the man.

With a groan Lance sat up and looked around, holding a hand to his ribs. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit sore is all."

"There's no point in trying to move around too much, they have chosen to chain us to the wall for good measure." Walter stated, nodding to the chain connecting the cuff to the stone wall.

"Any idea why we are here?"

"Not at all. No one has said a word since they knocked me out. Whatever the reason is though I'm sure that it's not good." Walter replied.

"You've got that right." Lance said, groaning when his ribs protested. "Well, we might as well make ourselves comfortable until either they decide to tell us why we are here or we are rescued."

Walter agreed. Neither man knew how long it would take for them to find out why they had been taken.

* * *

 

**_Third Party POV_ **

A man was sitting at a large wooden desk watching video feed of the cell block. He gave a chuckle when Walter and Lance mentioned being rescued.

Surely they were talking about the Arrow coming for them.

He was counting on it!


	3. Moira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: CW owns all things Arrow.

**_Oliver's POV_ **

As soon as Oliver saw the picture of the man that took Walter he suited up and headed out to patrol, to clear his head, and to work off some frustration.

He was there the night the man had died, Oliver had personally killed him, and yet here he was, alive – somehow.

As Oliver jumped from rooftop to rooftop, looking for something, anything, he kept thinking about that night. Wondering how it was he hadn't realized that the man was still alive.

"Oliver" Felicity called over the comms. "You're not going to find anything just by running around in circles. You've been out all night and have just been running yourself ragged. You need to come back to the lair to at least rest for a little bit." Oliver could hear the concern in her voice.

"Fine. I'm heading back now."

Oliver silently dropped back down to street level via a fire escape on an abandoned building not far from Verdant. As he walked up to the side entrance he noticed a plain white envelope with his name on it in bold black writing hanging on the door.

"I just received another letter." Oliver stated as he walked down the stairs to the lair, drawing the attention of Felicity and Diggle.

He walked over to the bank of computers as he read the note. "A banker, a detective and …."

"Oh no, he's going to take someone else." Felicity cried.

Dropping the note on the desk beside Felicity Oliver turned away from the computer, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Felicity, bring up the trackers for Roy, Thea, Sara, and my Mom."

"On it, Thea and Roy are upstairs. Sara is with Laurel. Your mother is at home. I'm also bringing up the camera feeds from around the club and seeing if I can find who it was that left you that note." Felicity said, her hands flying over the keys on her computers.

"Got him." She stated, after only seconds.

"Who is it?" Diggle asked as they walked back to her computer.

"It's him again." Felicity replied. "He knows where to find us." She said, turning to the guys.

* * *

**_Moira's POV_ **

"Mrs. Queen, where would you like me to bring your dinner?" Raisa asked.

"In here is fine Raisa, Thank you." Replied Moira. She was sitting in the living room in the Queen's mansion. It was a quiet night, the only sound being that which was coming from the news reports of Quentin and Walter's disappearances.

It would be wrong for her to say that she wasn't worried. She may no longer be married to Walter but that didn't mean she didn't still love him. Lance had been a friend of the family for a very long time, even if they had had their differences for a while. Mostly though, she was worried for Oliver.

He had been acting strange ever since she had introduced him to Slade Wilson, at least stranger than he usually did. She knew that he would be knee deep in whatever it was that was going on with Walter and Lance. He would have to be, he was the Arrow. Of course he didn't know that she knew that yet, she hadn't wanted him to know, to worry.

She turned off the news as Raisa brought her dinner in, choosing instead to sit by the window and enjoy the silence of the evening and the beauty of the stars overhead.

As she was sitting, reflecting, she heard someone come into the room. As she turned to see who was there she heard a familiar voice say "Struggling is pointless Moira."

Before she had a chance to respond, or even attempt to get away, a cloth was placed over her nose and mouth and her world went dark.

* * *

She came to when they placed the cold metal shackle on her wrist.

"Where am I?" She asked as the men who brought her in silently walked out of her cell, locked it and left through the heavy metal door.

"Moira, are you all right?" She heard Walter ask.

"Walter? You're here?" She queried in surprise.

"Yes, and Detective Lance is here as well." Walter replied.

"Mrs. Queen, do you know who took you?" Lance asked, forever the detective.

"Yes." Moira replied, sounding a bit haunted. "I'm afraid that I do."

* * *

**_Third Party POV_ **

"Where am I delivering this one sir?"

"Take it to Verdant and deliver it to Thea Queen. Let her deliver it to her brother." The man stated as he turned to the video feeds.

* * *

Thea looked up from the bar as a man in a dark suit walked up to her.

"Can I help you?"

"I have a letter for your brother Miss Queen. Can you please deliver it to him? It's urgent." The man asked.

"Of course." Thea replied as the man walked away.

Looking at the plain white envelope she noticed that the only thing written on it was Oliver's name in bold, black letters.

She pulled out her phone and texted Oliver:  _Need you at the club, letter delivered for you, urgent!_

Downstairs Oliver's phone buzzed as he was sparring with Diggle. His friend was getting more bruises than usual tonight due to Oliver's frustration with not getting anywhere with finding Lance and Walter.

When he saw the text from Thea he changed as quickly as he could and headed upstairs with Felicity and Diggle close behind him.

When he walked up to the bar Thea came over and handed him the envelope. He was worried as he noted it was the same type of note that had brought the news of Walter and Lance's disappearances.

Opening it he read "…. And a Queen's Mother. More to come."


	4. A Blonde, A Brunette and a Bodyguard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Arrow belongs to the CW.
> 
> AN: Thank you to everyone who has supported me here. I really appreciate it!

**_Felicity's POV_ **

Oliver stormed down the stairs of Verdant with Diggle and Felicity close behind.

"Why is he doing this? The people he's taken have done nothing wrong!" Oliver yelled as he stormed across the lair to the training mats. Felicity watched as he picked up the metal batons that he used when sparring with Diggle and he began attacking the training dummy to release some of his pent up anger.

"Oliver, you've got to stop this. You are not helping anybody by throwing a temper tantrum!" Felicity replied with an angry glare. He had been acting more like the playboy Oliver than he had the Arrow recently and it had to stop. Felicity knew that Oliver could defeat this man if he simply trusted his training and his team.

"Well what do you expect me to do then?" Oliver snapped back the anger evident in his voice.

"Stop thinking like Oliver Queen and start thinking like the Arrow!" Felicity answered calmly. "What would the Arrow do in this situation?" Felicity asked, trying to get Oliver to think clearly.

"He would track down the psychopath that is doing this and  _kill_  him. Make  _sure_  that he is  _dead_  this time!" Oliver replied, a little less loudly.

Felicity smiled, now he was starting to act like the Arrow again. "I've been running searches looking for any trace of him since we found that picture of him outside of Starling National Bank. I've been looking for bank accounts, car rentals, even looking for a credit card trail. I haven't found anything yet but I won't stop looking until I have something."

"Thank you Felicity." Oliver replied with nothing but gratefulness.

"He's got to still be in Starling City. You can't personally abduct three people that quickly and take each of them out of town." Diggle suggested knowing that there simply had not been enough time for that.

"Right! I'm going to start looking for a place where he could be holding them." Felicity replied, already tapping away at her keyboard.

"Oliver, man, you should go be with Thea right now. Your Mother was just abducted and whether Thea wants to admit it or not she needs you!" Diggle stated.

"You're right Dig. Thanks man." Oliver replied. As he was halfway up the stairs though, Oliver paused, turning back to his friends he spoke again.

"Digg, can you take Felicity home tonight, please. I need you guys to stay safe with  _him_  out there." Oliver asked, the concern in his voice evident to his friends who knew him better than anyone else.

"Of course man. Go to your sister, we're good here." Diggle replied as he tried to reassure Oliver that he would watch out for Felicity - again.

"Thank you! Goodnight guys." Oliver said with relief. He knew they would be careful with  _him_  out there.

"Goodnight Oliver." Diggle and Felicity replied as Oliver climbed the rest of the stairs, heading out to see his sister.

* * *

 

**_Oliver's POV_ **

"Thea!" Oliver called as he walked into the mansion. He knew she was here, at least this was where her phone was and she was never too far from her phone.

Oliver heard crying from upstairs. It sounded like it was coming from his Mom's room so he took the stairs two at a time, anxious to get to her, to make sure she was okay.

As Oliver walked into his Mom's room he saw Thea. She was sitting in the window seat clutching a photograph and as he walked closer to her he could see that it was one of the three of them, it had been taken right after their Mom was released from prison.

"Hey, Speedy. We're going to find her, okay." Oliver said softly as he pulled her into a tight hug.

They sat together next to the window, drawing comfort from each other. Eventually, completely exhausted, Thea fell asleep on his shoulder. He knew he needed to look for his Mom, Walter, and Lance; as well as taking down the man who did this to his family once and for all. As Oliver watched Thea sleeping however, he realized that he could be the Arrow at any time, tonight though, he simply needed to be her brother.

* * *

**_Diggle's POV_ **

"Digg, do you think they are going to be okay?" Felicity asked, looking to her friend who was sitting next to her. She was genuinely concerned for the Queen siblings. After all, they were just getting over the fact that Thea had been abducted and now people close to them were being taken.

"I think that once Oliver catches up to the creep he's going to regret what he's done." Diggle replied.

"What makes you say that Mr. Diggle." A deep voice said from behind them.

Diggle quickly stood, drawing his gun and pointing it at the man that had intruded into the lair, into their home.

"You don't want to do that." The man said as he also pulled a weapon.

"You don't get to just come back from the dead and waltz into our home and take people we love." Felicity said in anger taking a step toward the intruder.

"Watch me!" He snarled.

In the split second that followed, before Diggle could even register what had happened, he heard a small scream from Felicity a second before he felt the impact himself and sank to his knees, and he saw the man in the black mask pick up Felicity's phone.

"Time to distract a canary." Diggle heard him say just before he fell to the ground and his world went completely dark.

* * *

 

**_Sara's POV_ **

Sara was sitting in Laurel's living room, watching some meaningless television show with her sister. They were both still extremely worried about their Dad. He had been missing for two days now with no clues as to what happened to him.

Laurel was waiting, with phone in hand, to hear back from the SCPD about any new leads regarding her Dad's disappearance. Sara was sitting there simply keeping a watchful eye on her sister while she waited to hear back from Felicity on the searches her friend was running back at the lair. She knew that if there was anything to be found Felicity would find it and would notify her immediately.

Shortly after Laurel fell asleep on the couch Sara's phone buzzed. It was a text from Felicity:  _Found him! Cabin just outside town. Oliver's en route!_  Followed by a set of coordinates.

Sara was ecstatic. Finally, they had found something. She glanced over at her sister to be sure she was asleep before heading out to her bike.

She was finally going to be able to bring their Dad home.

* * *

 

**_Third Party POV_ **

The man in the black mask sat outside Laurel's apartment waiting for Sara to leave. As soon as he saw her bike pull away he went inside to find the brunette asleep on her couch. He quietly placed a cloth over her nose and mouth to be sure that she would not wake up until they were at their destination.

He smiled to himself as he drove away from Laurel's apartment. He loved it when a plan came together and unlike last time, this one was coming together perfectly.

Now all he had to do was lure the Arrow in.

* * *

 

**_Oliver's POV_ **

Oliver sat in the chair next to his Mom's bed. He had moved Thea there after she had been sleeping on his shoulder for a while. He figured the bed would be more comfortable for her.

Oliver had not slept at all since he came back to the mansion. He wanted to be sure that his sister was safe, besides, he was waiting for the call from Felicity saying that she had found something. He had left the lair only a few hours ago so he knew it would probably be a while before she called.

At that moment his phone buzzed. Looking at it he saw a text from Felicity:  _Results in, location found._

 _Finally_ , he thought,  _now I can bring them home. I wonder why she didn't just call though. Maybe she knew I would be with Thea and didn't want to interrupt._

He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to give Thea a kiss on the forehead before he headed out. All Oliver wanted to do was keep her safe, even if that meant leaving her in the hands of the security team while he tracked down and killed, yet again, this maniac that was tormenting his family.

Oliver stopped only for a moment on the way out of the mansion just long enough to instruct the security team that no one except himself or Diggle were allowed on property until further notice. The mansion was also to remain on lockdown until this was settled and the only people who were authorized to lift the lockdown were himself and Diggle, he ordered.

He then climbed on his bike and headed back to Verdant as quickly as possible. It was time to bring his Mom, Walter, and Lance home again safely.

* * *

 

**_Felicity's POV_ **

Felicity woke with a pounding headache. As she began to move around a bit she also realized that she was cold - and that she was not alone.

She looked around and noticed that she was in what looked like a cell block, or a dungeon in a castle. The walls were made of rock and she was in a cell with metal bars on three sides. Standing she felt a weight on her wrist, looking down she saw the shackle that was securely chained to the rock wall. She obviously wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Looking around, Felicity noticed that there were several other cells just like hers. On one side of the room there was Walter and Moira who were both in cells just like hers. On the other side of the room there was Detective Lance and Laurel and they were in cells too. There was an open empty cell next to hers and then in the one beyond that was Diggle.

"John! Are you okay?" Felicity asked, clearly worried for her friend.

"I'm fine Felicity, you?" Diggle asked, concern evident in his voice.

"I'm okay, my head is pounding though." Felicity replied.

"That's what happens when you are knocked out with a sleeping agent Miss Smoak." Lance said.

"Detective! Do you know why he abducted us?" Felicity asked, hoping someone knew the answer to the question.

"That we do not know. However, we do know that whatever the reason may be, it certainly won't be anything good." Moira stated, looking worried.

"Well, whatever the reason I'm sure we will find out shortly." Walter stated, hoping that no one was going to get hurt, even though he knew that it was unlikely.

* * *

**_Third Party POV_ **

"That you will!" The man in black stated as he watched the monitors yet again.

He sat down at the large wooden desk in front of the security monitors and pulled out a plain white envelope and paper. On the front he wrote in bold black letters "Oliver". The note simple and to the point.

"Deliver this to Mr. Queen." He said, handing the letter to the man standing next to him.

"Of course sir." The man stated on his way out. Eager to do his bosses bidding.

* * *

**_Oliver's POV_ **

There was a man standing outside Verdant when Oliver roared up on his bike.

"Can I help you?" Oliver asked the man as he walked up to him, impatient to get inside to his team.

"I have a delivery for you Mr. Queen." The man stated as he held out the white envelope. Oliver looked down and his heart dropped as he realized it was another letter from  _him._ He looked up to ask the man a question only to realize he had already disappeared.

With a sense of dread he opened the letter and read:

"A blonde, a brunette and a bodyguard. The collection is almost complete. Come alone  _Arrow_!"

Below the message was simply an address.

Oliver headed straight inside to suit up and prepare for battle. It was time for this to end!


	5. The Arrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I still don't own Arrow.

**_Oliver's POV_ **

_A blonde, a brunette and a bodyguard….. That can only mean that either Sara or Felicity and Diggle are gone._ Oliver thought as he ran down the stairs to the lair, he was hoping he would find the bubbly blond still sitting at her desk.

As he came to the bottom of the stairs he was devastated to find that her seat was empty, pushed away from the computer desk. On the floor not far away was Diggle's gun. This proved that one of his worst fears had come true. The lair had been broken in to and his two closest friends had been taken from right under his nose.

Oliver walked over to the case housing his suit, changing quickly before grabbing his bow and quiver from the case, pausing for a moment as he looked at the bow remembering when Felicity had given it to him. She and Diggle had just brought him back from the Island, it had taken a bit of time for them to convince him to go back to being the vigilante and his only excuse had been that his bow had been broken. She then pointed to the case on the table where he found his new bow that she had ordered specifically for him. Now this bow was going to help him free her yet again; and the rest of those he cared about too.

He then went to his workbench and put as many arrows as would fit into the quiver, then strapping it onto his back he turned to head out the door without even bothering to leave a note for Sara. He couldn't risk her coming after him and putting those who had been abducted at risk.

On his way up the stairs he pulled his mask on and flipped up his hood.

"You wanted me…. Now you're going to get me!" Oliver stated with a growl as he climbed on his bike.

* * *

**_Laurel's POV_ **

Laurel sat in her cell shivering from the cold and damp air. She was sitting as close to her Dad in the cell next to her as the shackle on her wrist would allow. He had been telling her that things were going to be okay, that somehow they would make it out of here. He was so sure!

She on the other hand was not. Sure, the Arrow had rescued her before, but that didn't mean he would again. He was probably tired of saving her. Besides, who was to say he would be able to find them in time even if he did come looking.

She looked around at the others in the cells with her. Across from her Father was Walter, the man who had run Oliver's company in the absence of his Dad, who had held the Queen family together after the Gambit went down. He seemed to be handling this better than anyone and Laurel wondered if it had to do with the fact that he had been abducted before.  _At least this time he doesn't have to handle it alone. Not that that's a good thing,_ Laurel thought.

Next to him was Moira, Oliver's mother. She was obviously shaken from the experience. Laurel wondered how long Moira would be able to last in conditions such as these, yet she knew that Oliver's mother was stronger than she seemed. After all, she had dealt with the Gambit sinking with her husband and only son on it, she ran Queen Consolidated when Walter was last abducted and she survived prison after the undertaking. Moira was stronger than she looked.

Then there was Felicity. The blonde IT girl from QC. Laurel wondered whose computer Felicity had hacked to get in here with them, after all that was the extent of her abilities. Laurel didn't think Felicity was capable of much more than hacking someone's computer, oh and drooling over Oliver, yes she had seen it as Felicity was hardly good at hiding it.

There was an empty cell between Felicity and Oliver's bodyguard, Diggle. This man was a force to be reckoned with. You could tell that by the fact that he was all muscle. She had seen him in action a couple of times and wondered exactly  _how_  their captor had managed to get him in here. He looked like he was ready to kill someone.

It felt like they had been in this damp, dark hole for days. In reality however it was probably only a few hours. As she huddled in the corner she simply hoped that there was someone out there who cared enough to come looking for them - and that they would be found before it was too late for any of them.

* * *

**_Diggle's POV_ **

Diggle knew Oliver would come and he would bring Sara. He simply hoped that they really knew what they were getting into.

He knew as soon as he heard the voice in the lair that they were in trouble. When he finally came to he knew they were in  _real_  trouble. Looking around he noticed that there were no windows in this room, only one door, they were all shackled to the wall so they couldn't even walk around their entire cell. They had been given food but just enough to keep them alive, not enough to keep them strong. He knew that even if there was a way to get out, which there wasn't because he had been looking, most of them wouldn't be strong enough to try an escape, especially if they were kept here much longer.

He looked over towards Felicity. He could tell she was trying to stay strong from the look on her face.

"You know he's going to come!" Felicity said looking at him clearly worried for her friend and boss.

"Yeah, I know." Diggle replied, just as concerned.

"He shouldn't. Nothing good will come from this." Felicity quietly stated, looking down in thought.

"I know, but you already know, there is no choice to make!" Diggle replied referring to Oliver's comment after he killed the Count.

"I wish there was!" Felicity replied before looking back to the door, expecting her archer to come through it for them at any time.

Diggle turned away from her and looked to the door as well. He hoped that for his own safety Oliver would stay away.

* * *

**_Felicity's POV_ **

Felicity turned back to the door after her short, hushed conversation with Diggle.

She knew that Oliver was probably already on his way to them, if he had figured out where they were taken. She knew though that their captor was probably trying to pull Oliver in. It was working she was sure because he would come, he will always come for her no matter the risk to himself.

Suddenly she heard a faint sound just on the other side of the door. It sounded like someone was getting the crap beaten out of them.

She noticed that everyone looked towards the door as someone unlocked it to open it. Next thing she knew she was blinded by the light from the other side. She saw the silhouette of the Arrow in the doorway. Her heart sank at the sight, she was afraid for Oliver, especially after what he had gone through at the hands of this maniac before.

* * *

**_Oliver's POV_ **

When Oliver reached the address provided to him it didn't look like anyone was there. Still, he proceeded with extreme caution. He had been ambushed by this man before and completely expected it to happen again.

He came in through the one window that the building had which dropped him down into a hallway. Looking down the hallway he noticed one man standing guard by a large metal door with his back to Oliver. He quietly came up behind the man and in a few short moves took him down. Pulling the lone key from the man's belt he unlocked and opened the door.

It opened into a large room that looked like a prison block. There were two cells each on the walls to the right and left of the door. Directly in front of him were three cells. All but one of the cells held someone who had recently been abducted. The empty cell was standing open, like it was waiting for its occupant to show up.

As soon as Oliver was done with his quick glance around the room he turned to Felicity, asking her with a simple look if she was okay. She gave a small nod letting him know that yes, she was fine.

He started to head for Felicity's cell when all of a sudden he heard a small noise behind him. Nocking an arrow he spun quickly to face the man.

"Finally, the Arrow decides to grace us with his presence." The man in black stated.

"Let them go!" Oliver demanded, the voice changer making him sound even more angry than he already was.

"NO!" the man yelled as he slammed the heavy metal door, causing Felicity to shudder. "Not until you pay for what you've done!"

The man then pulled out his own bow and came at Oliver.

He fought with the man in black for several minutes employing every technique he knew. Using his bow as a weapon he attacked the man again and again, travelling all around the room, as he tried to gain the upper hand.

The other man, however, was a better fighter than Oliver, he always had been. He landed several vicious blows to Oliver's ribs causing Oliver to start to have difficulty breathing. Oliver knew that he had several bruised, if not cracked ribs and he was beginning to slow down.

After several minutes of intense fighting the man grabbed a hold of Oliver by the left arm and hurled him into the front of Felicity's cell, causing her to gasp as he fell to the ground in front of her. She looked Oliver in the eyes and he knew he had to do something, anything, he simply  _had_  to get them free.

As he started to pick himself up off the floor the other man came up behind him. Placing his foot on Oliver's back he grabbed his left arm yet again and pulled it in exactly the right angle so that Oliver felt a sharp pain and he heard a pop from his shoulder. The other man had just dislocated it.

Oliver gave out a hiss of pain as he tried to pull himself off the floor with his one remaining good arm, his other arm hanging useless and the pain made him weaker still. As he was trying to get up the other man leaned down with a syringe in his hand. Placing it at Oliver's throat he injected Oliver with a sedative so fast that he didn't have a chance to stop him.

Oliver looked to Felicity, tried to let her know with just a look that it would be okay, as his world went dark.

* * *

**_Third Party POV_ **

They all looked on in horror as the Arrow went down, unconscious. He had put up quite the fight trying to take out the man in black. Unfortunately it just wasn't enough.

Once Oliver was unconscious the man in the black mask bound his hands and dragged him to the center of the room. Once there he called in another man to assist him. They looped the chains that were hanging from the ceiling through Oliver's bound hands. This caused Oliver to be hanging with his arms fully extended above him with his boots barely touching the ground. Diggle knew that Oliver would be in an extreme amount of pain, not only from his ribs but his dislocated shoulder as well and being hung like that would only put more pressure on the distorted joint, causing it to hurt even more.

Oliver was now hung in the middle of the room in his full Arrow gear, his head hanging so that his chin was lolling on his chest. Their captor walked around him once making sure he was secure and only once he was satisfied did he walk towards the door.

Just before he exited, he stopped and turned back to the room he finally pulled off the black hood and mask that he wore causing Laurel to gasp in surprise.

"Now that everyone is here it's time for the fun to begin." The man stated before walking out the door. The door slammed shut behind him and they heard it lock.

Malcolm Merlyn smiled as he walked down the hallway.

The fun was just beginning!


	6. Dr. Diggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you for your continued support!
> 
> Disclaimer: I still do not own Arrow!

**_Laurel POV_ **

Laurel was extremely excited when the Arrow showed up. He had saved her from several bad situations before. Sure, there was a time when she had hated him but that was mainly because Tommy had died and she knew that the Arrow had been inside CNRI right after it had fallen to the ground. She had thought the he could save Tommy and instead her boyfriend had died. After that she had done everything she could to capture him, only for him to get away each time. Now though she only wanted to see him defeat this maniac and get them out of here once and for all.

As she watched the Arrow and Merlyn fighting she thought at first that the Arrow would have no problems taking him down. After a few minutes of watching the intense battle though Laurel could tell that the Arrow was slowing, Merlyn was a much better fighter than she had first thought and now he was beating the one person that she had thought would defeat him.

When Merlyn threw him into the bars of Felicity's cell her heart dropped. It was obvious that the Arrow was in pain, even though he was trying to hide it. She felt sick to her stomach as she watched Merlyn reach down and dislocate the Arrow's shoulder, she heard the joint pop out of the socket and winced knowing it  _had_  to hurt.

As Merlyn drugged the Arrow and then began to bind him she knew that they would not be getting out of here today. As the Arrow hung from a chain she felt dread start to creep in. She remembered what it was like to be bound, to be unable to do anything about what was going on. She remembered when the Dollmaker had captured her to get back at her Dad. She had felt so helpless strapped to that board until she saw the arrow that had severed the tube that was shoved in her mouth. She could only imagine what it was like for the Arrow to be caught in a situation such as this with no obvious way of escape. She didn't see any way out of this one and unlike when she was captured, there was no-one to come and rescue him.

She sat, staring, willing him to open his eyes to prove that he was okay, willing him to help them find a way out of this.

* * *

 

**_Felicity's POV_ **

Felicity sat in her cell trying to hold in her tears. Her archer had come for them, as she knew that he would, and he had gotten hurt trying to rescue them.

As she sat watching him hang from the center of the room she couldn't help but remember the last time he had gone up against Merlyn. She still remembered, with vivid clarity, the night of the Undertaking. Oliver and Diggle had gone to Merlyn Global to face the Dark Archer and try to take him down before he remotely detonated the earthquake machine. She had sat back at the Arrow Cave, or the lair depending on her mood, and listened to the battle going on at Merlyn Global while simultaneously talking Lance through disarming the earthquake machine. Sure, she was scared that it would go off and level Verdant on her head, but she was more worried for Oliver because Merlyn had proved on multiple occasions that he could beat Oliver. Merlyn had nearly killed him at least once, and seriously injured him a second time.

She hadn't been able to help the dread she had felt when she heard the grunt of pain from Oliver and she later found out that he had stabbed an arrow through his own shoulder in order to stab Merlyn in the chest. They had all thought that Merlyn was dead, until tonight.

She wished that there was something that she could do to ease at least some of his pain, because she knew that when he came around his shoulder was going to be killing him in no small thanks to the fact that Merlyn dislocated it, right in front of her. Felicity shuddered again as she remembered the distinct pop of the joint being pulled out of its socket. She always hated it when Oliver came back to the lair with an injury, she hated it even more now because she had to watch as the injuries were inflicted upon him.

Not only was she worried about his injuries but she knew that inevitably his real identity was going to be revealed. Felicity was sure that Merlyn wouldn't let that little bit of information go unshared.

* * *

 

**_Oliver's POV_ **

As Oliver started to regain consciousness he made sure to keep his breathing even and not to move until he was able to discover if Malcolm was still in the room. He could also tell that he was still wearing his hood and mask so he wanted to be sure not to give anything away to those that were there that did not yet know his true identity.

He heard the sounds of six different people in the room. The easiest one for him to pick out though was Felicity. He could hear her quiet sobs in a cell in front and to the left of him. It upset him to know that she was here - at the mercy of Malcolm.

He remembered how he felt when he saw her with the Count. Knowing that she was in danger was more than he could take and he had reacted out of anger and killed him. Despite that, he actually went a bit overboard with the use of the three arrows instead of simply just one. He didn't even feel sorry at all when the Count then fell out of the window. Oliver knew that what he had told Felicity that day was true, there was no choice; just as there was no choice today, he would always come for her - always.

Next Oliver took inventory of his injuries. He knew that his shoulder was dislocated, he remembered Malcolm pulling it out of socket and could feel the pain in it now and knew that the joint was swelling already, and he knew that a few of his ribs were bruised as well. Thankfully nothing was broken, at least not yet.

Time for them to know that he was okay.

* * *

 

**_Diggle's POV_ **

Diggle watched Oliver carefully. He knew that his partner had to be in no small amount of pain. He had watched as his shoulder was dislocated and knew that those well placed hits from Merlyn had to have bruised some of Oliver's ribs. Now Diggle was simply waiting to see that Oliver was starting to come around.

Diggle watched as Oliver slowly started to move. He figured that Oliver had been awake for at least a few minutes, making sure Merlyn wasn't here when he showed he was conscious.

As Oliver lifted his head Diggle could see a grimace of pain on his face that only those who knew him so well would notice. He looked to Diggle who gave a nod indicating that he was okay before Oliver turned to Felicity.

Diggle watched in amusement as they had another silent conversation. Oliver asked Felicity if she was alright, Felicity responded that yes, she was okay, was he alright? Oliver responding with just a look that yes he would be fine. Her glaring in irritation to let him know that he needs to re think his definition of fine.

He almost laughed at them. Diggle had seen conversations like this many times and he never stopped being amused at them.

Just as everyone else noticed that the Arrow was now awake Diggle noticed a shadow under the door. He knew that Merlyn was coming back. He looked to Oliver to give the younger man a warning even though he knew that Oliver would have heard the approaching footsteps just as the door opened and Merlyn stepped in.

* * *

 

**_Lance POV_ **

Lance watched as Merlyn walked back into the room with three guards behind him. He knew that Merlyn wouldn't really need their help seeing as he had already defeated the Arrow once today.

Lance watched as Merlyn circled around to the front of the Arrow. The Arrow then raised his head and stared Merlyn in the eye, clearly a look of contempt on his face.

Without any warning that Lance could see Merlyn swung and landed a hard punch to the Arrow's jaw which the man took with not even a grunt of pain. Lance knew that if it didn't break the man's jaw it would at least hurt like hell.

At that point two of the goons that came in with Merlyn started to take the Arrow down as the third stood nearby with a gun trained on him so that he couldn't get away. They dragged the Arrow over to the open cell and threw him towards the back wall where he landed on his injured shoulder.

They then walked out of the cell and Lance noted that they closed and locked it without placing the shackle on the Arrow's wrist like they had with everyone else.

"We shall let you sit in there for a while before we continue the fun,  _Arrow_." Merlyn stated with a wicked grin on his face.

All four of them then walked into the hall and Lance could hear the lock click into place.

Lance turned as he saw the Arrow begin to push himself up off the floor.  _Does this guy ever give up?_ He thought to himself.

He watched as the Arrow turned to Mr. Diggle in the cell next to him. Mr. Diggle walked as close to the other man's cell as the chain on his wrist would allow, leaving him about two feet from the Arrow's cell.

"I can't reach man." Lance heard Diggle say with some frustration. Lance then observed as Mr. Diggle reached down to his left hand and pushed on the joint where his thumb attached forcing it out of its socket allowing him to pull his hand easily through the shackle. Lance then watched in amazement as Mr. Diggle then popped it back into place without even a grimace. It wasn't until Mr. Diggle headed towards the Arrow's cell that Lance remembered he was ex Special Forces.

Lance looked on as the Arrow walked slowly up to the bars separating the two men's cells and lifted his left arm through the bars. As Mr. Diggle reached up and put his hand on the other man's shoulder Lance realized what was about to happen.

At some unspoken signal from either man Mr. Diggle pulled on the Arrow's arm at precisely the correct angle, effectively pulling it back into place. Surprisingly he didn't even hear a grunt of pain from the Arrow as he heard the joint pop back into place.

The Arrow then gave a nod of thanks before turning to walk to the other side of the cell. He noted that the Arrow carefully sat in the corner as close to Felicity as he could, resting his back against the wall so that he could still watch the door.

Lance silently wondered how much more pain the Arrow could silently endure.


	7. It Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.

**_Mixed POV_ **

Laurel couldn't believe it. She had just witnessed Mr. Diggle dislocate his thumb to get out of the shackle before popping the Arrow's shoulder back into place; and now the Arrow was sitting as close to Felicity as their prison would allow. It seemed to Laurel that these guys had worked together before, or at least knew each other. She wondered exactly what their relationship entailed, but more than that she wondered just who was this man under the hood.

It had been an hour at least since Malcolm Merlyn was last in the cell block and Felicity knew that he would be coming back soon. There was no way Merlyn was going to leave them in peace for any extended periods of time. She looked over to where Oliver was sitting, wishing with everything that was in her that she could reach just two more feet so that she could touch him, so that she could anchor him back down. Felicity knew Oliver would be blaming himself for what was happening, he always did. However, Felicity knew that he would be extra hard on himself this time since he had supposedly killed Merlyn the night of the Undertaking.

Moira had watched in curiosity as the scene unfolded in front of her. She knew that Mr. Diggle was ex Special Forces so he was probably trained in how to get out of things such as the shackle, however it was completely different knowing it and seeing it actually being done. She was thankful that he had had the courtesy and the medical knowledge to take care of Oliver's shoulder. She knew that her son had to be in a large amount of pain and she was surprised that he did not show it in any way. As she watched him sit next to Felicity's cell Moira wondered just how close the two of them really were, if all the rumors at QC about them really were true.

Suddenly the door opened again and in walked Malcolm with two of his goons by his side again. He carried with him a bag that he brought to the table in the middle of the room before walking towards Walter's cell. He instructed two guards to go in, unshackle Walter, and bring him to the center of the room where they bound his hands and attached them to the chains above his head. Thankfully though they did not string him up quite as high as they did with the Arrow and he was able to stand easily on the ground, even though his arms were stretched uncomfortably over his head.

"Walter Steele." Malcolm stated as he slowly walked around Walter. "You were the first to find evidence of the Undertaking in the form of that small notebook of Moira's. If you had not discovered it, and pursued it, then you would not have been abducted on that first occasion. Thankfully for you though, someone was there so save you. Do you think anyone will stand up for you now?" Malcolm stated with a snarl.

Oliver slowly stood to his feet and walked to the front of his cell as soon as the men entered Walter's cell, worried about what they were going to do to him. As they strung Walter up Oliver knew that this was not going to end well for Walter. When Malcolm made his statement Oliver knew what he had to do.

"I'll take his place." The Arrow stated, the voice changer making it sound like a growl.

"How noble. Fine." Malcolm replied as he reached into his bag. He pulled out a tazer and as he looked at Oliver he said, "I'll let him go in just a moment, he isn't getting away scotch free." As he finished the statement he turned to Walter and pushed the tazer into his chest holding it for a few moments.

Walter let out a scream of pain as it felt like he was burning where the tazer had touched his skin. He was breathing hard as Malcolm then walked around him, laughing, before putting the tazer to his back eliciting another scream from Walter.

"Stop!" The Arrow growled. "Let me take his place! There is no need to hurt him anymore."

"Ah, The Arrow, sacrificing himself yet again so another won't be hurt." Walter replied with a grin. Turning to his goons he stated, "Take him down and bring the Arrow out again. No fighting back!" Malcolm stated as he looked at Oliver.

As the two men took Walter down from where he hung Malcolm walked around the cells looking intently at each person. "If Walter had not pursued information about the notebook then he would not be here today. It is his curiosity that has caused him this pain."

As the men threw Walter back into his cell, locking it behind him Malcolm stopped in front of Oliver's cell. He looked too pleased that Oliver had volunteered to take Walter's place.

The men then came over to Oliver's cell, "Step to the back of the cell." One of the men demanded.

"You don't have to drag me, I'll come willingly if you won't hurt anyone else." Oliver stated quietly as he walked out of the cell. As he reached the center of the room the men grabbed him roughly and proceeded to chain him up in the middle of the room again, lifting him up so that his boots barely touched the ground and putting strain on his injured shoulder for the second time.

As the men did this Malcolm started to take some things out of his bag and placing them on the table. Once they were finished Malcolm walked around Oliver with a sword in his hand.

Moira was horrified by the fact that Oliver had volunteered to be tortured and that Malcolm was carrying a sword. She was terrified about what he would do with it. She watched as Malcolm slowly cut Oliver's jacket off him with the sword. Moira knew that her son's secret was out, everyone in this room would now know who the Arrow was.

Everyone watched as the Arrow lost his jacket to Malcolm's sword. A few gasps were heard as Laurel, Walter and Lance learned who the man under the hood was, Oliver.

Oliver on the other hand was looking Malcolm straight in the eyes, almost daring him to do his worst.

After Malcolm had rid Oliver of his jacket, hood, mask, and the voice changer he then walked over to the table, picking up a couple of items off of it. Oliver looked up, recognizing what was about to happen. Oliver searched for Felicity, looking her in the eyes knowing it would keep him focused if he could concentrate on just her.

Malcolm nodded to one of the other men that had come in with him and Oliver felt a bucket of cold water being dumped on him. Gritting his teeth he prepared for what was next.

Malcolm had brought in a small generator and was about to use it to shock Oliver.

"Since you volunteered to take another's punishment you should at least get the best of it." Malcolm stated just before he reached out and shocked Oliver in the back.

Oliver clamped his jaw tightly in order to keep from screaming. He was not going to give this maniac the satisfaction of hearing his screams. However, he was unable to stop the tremors going through his body and this was clear for the others to see.

Malcolm repeated this punishment several times to the sounds of Laurel and Moira's pleas for him to stop. The only woman in the room who was not saying anything during the whole time was Felicity. She stood as for towards the front of her cell as she could looking Oliver in the eyes, hoping to pass on some strength and encouragement to him and letting him know that he did not have to go through this alone - she was there for him every step of the way.

Malcolm suddenly stopped after several minutes of shocking Oliver with the generator. He wasn't getting quite the response he wanted so he decided it was enough for the time being. He would leave Oliver alone for now, instead using this experience so the others knew what could happen to them.

"Take him down." Malcolm ordered the other two men.

They loosened the chains which caused Oliver to drop to the floor with a small grunt of pain. They then threw him back into his cell where he landed face down next to Felicity's cell.

"Let this be an example to you all of what I am capable of doing, and know that this is only the beginning." Malcolm stated with an evil grin on his face. As he turned to walk out he ordered the two men with him to unshackle the remaining prisoners, he didn't think they would try an escape at the moment, not with their hero unable to move and a promise for more

As soon as the men walked out the door and the lock clicked shut Felicity moved over to where Oliver laid next to her cell. She reached through the bars and lay a comforting hand on his back, careful not to touch where Malcolm had shocked him. She wanted to be sure that he knew she was there for him no matter what happened.

"Thank you.' Oliver said allowing some of his emotions to be heard in his voice even though he was a bit hoarse after holding in the screams for so long.

"Always." Felicity replied looking him in the eyes, hoping that he could see that she meant it. After all, she was  **his girl**!


	8. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you all for your support.
> 
> Disclaimer: Arrow belongs to CW, not me.

**_Walter's POV (One hour earlier)_ **

Walter sat in his cell and watched as Mr. Diggle took care of the Arrow's injured shoulder. He knew the Arrow had to be in no small amount of pain from where Malcolm had dislocated his shoulder and was sure that he felt a bit better now that it had been popped back into place.

No one said much as the Arrow sat near Felicity, they all seemed to be consumed with their own thoughts, everyone contemplating the recent events.

It seemed like it was only five minutes after Malcolm left last that he came back through the door with two other men. As Malcolm walked to the center of the room with a bag he instructed the two other guys to come to his cell and bring Walter out. He was extremely worried about what was about to happen. He knew that with Malcolm running things this was not going to be good.

The men pulled Walter out of his cell, bound his hands and hung him from the chains that the Arrow had recently been hung from. Although it was uncomfortable to be standing there with his hands bound above his head thankfully they had not strung him up as high they had the Arrow and Walter was able to stand easily on the ground.

"Walter Steele." Malcolm stated as he slowly walked around Walter. "You were the first to find evidence of the Undertaking in the form of that small notebook of Moira's. If you had not discovered it, and pursued it, then you would not have been abducted on that first occasion. Thankfully for you though, someone was there to save you. Do you think anyone will stand up for you now?" Malcolm stated with a snarl.

Walter became even more worried at the mention of Moira's notebook. He finally understood why he was here, it was due to the knowledge that he had of the Undertaking even though he was not aware of it at the time. Walter now understood as well that the notebook was the whole reason he was abducted before - and he immediately realized that it was Malcolm that had him abducted.

Walter had spent a long time in that small cell thanks to that little notebook. He could still remember the day that he was rescued by the Arrow though. He had never had a chance to thank the man for rescuing him, he figured that now probably wasn't the best time, but hopefully he would get the chance soon.

Walter couldn't help but notice as the Arrow stood to his feet and walked to the front of his cell, the Arrow was carefully watching what was going on.

"I'll take his place." The Arrow growled. Walter felt extremely thankful and worried for the young man all at the same time.

"How noble." Malcolm replied. Walter watched, nervous, as Malcolm looked through the bag that was sitting on the table, pulling out a tazer. He was hoping that the man would not actually use it on him because he knew it would  _really_  hurt. Unfortunately he knew for sure that he wasn't going to get out of it as Malcolm replied, "I'll let him go in just a moment, he isn't getting away scotch free."

Malcolm then started to walk around Walter again and it took him completely by surprise when Malcolm thrust the tazer into his chest. Walter let out a scream and his body trembled and he could feel the burns forming on this chest from the contact of the tazer. Walter was still breathing hard from the shock when after a few short moments he suddenly felt the tazer make contact with his back as well, eliciting another scream of pain.

Finally, after what felt like forever but was really only a few minutes Walter was let down from the chains, unbound, and thrown back into his cell as Malcolm walked around saying, "If Walter had not pursued information about the notebook then he would not be here today. It is his curiosity that has caused him this pain."

Walter carefully brought himself to a sitting position as the two men walked towards the Arrow's cell. Walter was extremely worried about what Malcolm was going to do to the Arrow after the pain that was just inflicted upon him.

He watched, awestruck, as the Arrow calmly walked out of his cell and allowed himself to be strung up again. Walter knew that the pressure being put on the Arrow's shoulder had to be causing the man no small amount of pain yet again.

Walter watched as Malcolm reached into his bag, pulled out a sword and turned towards the Arrow. He was afraid for the man who had put his life on the line for others, including himself, many times.

Walter couldn't look away as Malcolm cut off the Arrow's jacket, ridding the other man of the hood, mask, and voice changer as well. He couldn't help the gasp of surprise when he realized who the Arrow was. Of all the people in the world the Arrow was none other than Oliver. The young man who had endured being marooned on an island by himself for five years and had just recently come home again.

Walter watched as Oliver looked to Felicity while Malcolm was preparing the small generator that he had brought in. As Malcolm was about to shock Oliver for the first time Walter couldn't help but hold his breath in anticipation of the pain that he was about to see inflicted on the younger man. He knew that the amount of pain that he had endured would be nothing compared to the pain that was about to be inflicted upon Oliver through the use of that generator.

Walter mentally braced himself for the inevitable scream that would come from Oliver and could not believe it when Oliver didn't make a sound. Oh, it was obvious that Oliver was in no small amount of pain as evidenced by the tremors that were coursing through his body, however Walter never heard the scream that he anticipated.

Malcolm shocked Oliver several more times, yet Walter never even heard so much as a small grunt of pain from him. He simply could not believe that it was possible to go through that kind of torture without a sound and wondered what Oliver had previously endured to enable him to do so now.

After what seemed like forever Malcolm finally stopped torturing Oliver. He instructed the two men to take him down and they threw Oliver back in his cell where he landed face first right next to Felicity's cell.

"Let this be an example to you all of what I am capable of doing - and know that this is only the beginning." Malcolm stated with an evil grin on his face. As he turned to walk out he ordered the two men with him to unshackle the remaining prisoners.

Walter noticed that as soon as the lock clicked shut on the door Felicity moved over to where Oliver lay next to the bars and she laid a comforting hand on his back being careful to avoid the burns. He knew that Oliver was in a massive amount of pain from the recent pressure on his shoulder let alone from the shock treatment that he just went through. He was incredibly surprised though that through it all the only sound that he heard from Oliver was a small grunt of pain as he was dropped to the floor; when Walter himself had a sore throat because he had screamed in pain, and all he had endured was a couple small tazer burns.

**_Mixed POV_ **

They all sat in relative silence after Malcolm and his men left with only a few small sounds from Moira and Laurel who were crying after watching the events that had just unfolded before their eyes.

After only a couple minutes the door opened again and one of Malcolm's goons walked back in carrying a box that he set in front of Diggle's cell, before walking back out the door having not said a single word.

"It's food." Diggle stated, the relief evident in his voice as he began to pull the items out of the box. He laid out six sandwiches and eight bottles of water. He knew that Malcolm had done this intentionally, knowing that not everyone would have food to eat.

He passed three bottles of water and two sandwiches to Moira. "Use one of the bottles of water to clean Walter's burns as best as you can. We need to keep them as clean as possible." Diggle explained.

Oliver slowly picked himself up off the floor with only a slight grimace and a quiet grunt of pain and slowly walked towards Diggle's cell.

"You gonna be okay man?" Diggle asked quietly, letting the concern show in his voice, as he passed Oliver four bottles of water and the remaining sandwiches.

Oliver replied with a small shake of his head indicating that he would be fine. Oliver then passed back one of the sandwiches giving Diggle a look that clearly told the man not to argue before heading back across his cell to Felicity.

Oliver passed her all but one of the bottles of water before carefully sitting back down on the ground next to the bars. Felicity handed Laurel two sandwiches and two bottles of water, one each for her and Lance, before heading back to where Oliver was sitting.

"Would you like me to clean your injuries Oliver?" Felicity asked, clearly concerned about his burns.

"Yes, thank you." Oliver tiredly replied. He then turned to where she could reach his back and handed her his bottle of water.

She carefully tore some cloth from her shirt and then proceeded to work on cleaning up his burns with only slight winces from Oliver and only one small groan of pain when she was working on a particularly bad patch.

Once she had finished cleaning up Oliver she broke her sandwich in half and tried to give half of it to Oliver.

"I'll only take half of that. You need whatever you can get." Oliver stated, clearly not wanting to take any more from her than was necessary. Felicity looked to Diggle for support.

"The only way that is going to happen is if you take the same amount of my sandwich Oliver." Diggle was going to make sure that Oliver ate more than one bite of food, he needed his strength more so than anyone else.

Lance looked on as Team Arrow worked together, yet again. Clearly they had each other's backs no matter what because Diggle and Felicity were not letting Oliver be his normal stubborn self. They were clearly looking out for their teammate and friend.

Moira was extremely thankful that Felicity and Diggle were taking care of Oliver. She knew that he would need his strength just as much as anyone else if not more because of his injuries. She had watched as Felicity had cleaned Oliver's wounds once she had finished doing the same for Walter. There was definitely more to Felicity and Oliver's relationship than anyone else realized, she could see it in Felicity's face. She could see though, that they were so good at hiding it from others that she wasn't even sure they knew themselves what they meant to each other.

Once Felicity was done with Oliver's injuries he carefully lay on his side next to her. He laid in such a way that he could keep an eye on the door and yet be as close to Felicity as their prison would allow. He hoped that he would be able to get at least a little bit of rest before Malcolm returned. Oliver knew that this was only the beginning and he knew that the worst was yet to come.


	9. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you all for your support! I really appreciate it.
> 
> Disclaimer: Arrow belongs to the CW. Not me!

**_Moira's POV_ **

Moira was worried, for Walter and his burns, for Lance and Laurel who were dragged into this even though they didn't know why yet, for Diggle and Felicity who seemed to always be there for Oliver to care for him and help him, but mostly she was worried for Oliver. He suffered what had to be some pretty bad burns without a sound and even now lay quietly in his cell.

Moira knew that it was her fault that they were all here. She was the one who had been dealing with Malcolm and the Undertaking. If it had not been for her's and Robert's involvement in the whole plan Robert would still be alive, the Gambit never would have gone down, Oliver would have never had to survive a hellish island for five years. The only good thing that came out of it was that Oliver became the man that he is today, a man who would give anything to protect those who are innocent.

Moira was watching Felicity sit with a comforting hand on Oliver's shoulder. She was whispering quietly to him and Moira wondered just what it was that they were talking about. It reminded her of the times when Oliver was a child and was sick. She would sit by Oliver's bed with him, rubbing his back and talking quietly with him until he fell asleep, or felt better. Moira suspected that this was what Felicity was doing now.

Moira watched as suddenly Oliver started to stand and slowly walked to the front of his cell, like he had heard something. Diggle, in the cell next to him, noticed as well and did the same, both looking like they were ready to take on whatever walked through that door.

Only moments later Moira watched as the door opened and Malcolm walked in followed by two of his goons yet again, one of whom was carrying a chair. He placed the chair in the center of the room as Malcolm laid a full syringe on the table before turning to Moira.

"Moira Queen, you have spent years keeping secrets with the excuse that you are protecting your family, your children. Well, I'm here to tell you now that you have failed your family!" Malcolm stated with the evilest of grins on his face, knowing that Oliver had said similar words to her when he confronted her about the Undertaking. He motioned to the two other men in the room to pull Moira out of her cell. They proceeded to take her to the chair in the middle of the room where they bound her hands behind her back.

"Do you remember Thea's 18th Birthday?" Malcolm asked as he slowly started to walk around Moira. "You gave her that red convertible that she had been begging for. Do you remember what happened that night?"

Moira shuddered as she remembered the events of that night. Thea had taken the car out for a drive, so excited about her birthday gift, and had ended up in a bad car accident. Later they found out that it was because Thea was using Vertigo, a new drug that had been plaguing Starling City. Thea had almost ended up in jail and would have if it hadn't been for Lance and Laurel stepping in and getting her community service.

"Thea was using Vertigo and almost ended up killing herself with that car that you bought her." Malcolm said as he leaned down next to her ear.

"I didn't know….." Moira started to reply.

"I don't care what you did or did not know." Malcolm stated, clearly becoming more agitated as he walked around to look her in the eyes. "You allowed  ** _OUR DAUGHTER_**  to use  ** _VERTIGO!"_**  Malcolm roared.

Moira heard a gasp from Laurel, Lance and Walter as the truth came out about who Thea's father was. This was something they had clearly not expected and she was worried about what other facts he was going to reveal.

"She could have been killed and you  ** _allowed_**  it." Malcolm continued on his rampage. "You should have been watching her, you should have known what was going on. After all she is  ** _your daughter_** _!"_

"I'm sorry." Moira sobbed. "If I had known…"

Malcolm whirled and slapped her across the face causing Moira to cry out in pain as he split her lip. As she looked back up she saw the look of worry on Oliver's face and was afraid for what he would do in order to protect her, as he had already done for Walter.

"You not only allowed our daughter to use Vertigo but you also chose to warn the city about the Undertaking.  _You_  Moira queen are the reason that the Undertaking failed." Malcolm stated as he walked toward the table where he picked up the syringe before walking back towards her chair.

"STOP!" Oliver roared, in his Arrow voice. "Don't do this Malcolm."

Malcolm kept walking closer to her, ignoring Oliver's yells. He walked around her and leaning down to talk into her ear he pressed the syringe to Moira's neck. "Since you chose to ignore the fact that Thea was using Vertigo, and chose to warn the scum of this city about the Undertaking I thought it fitting that you should enjoy the same drug that you allowed  _my daughter_  to use. Enjoy your taste of Vertigo Moira." Malcolm stated as he started to inject the drug into her.

"STOP!" Oliver roared at Malcolm. "Stop and I'll take it, give it to me but spare her!"

Moira was crying, she was already starting to lose focus due to the drug and she was scared as to what would happen to Oliver if Malcolm gave it to him instead. She watched on in horror and Malcolm pulled the syringe out of her neck and walked over towards Oliver.

"You really want to experience this too Oliver." Malcolm asked, clearly pleased that Oliver had volunteered, yet again, to take someone else's place.

Moira watched with unfocused eyes as Malcolm stepped up to Oliver's cell. "If you want it so bad, come and get it. Otherwise I'm going to give the rest of this to your mother."

"No, I'll take it." Oliver said, looking at Malcolm defiantly.

Moira's heart was racing, her sight was unfocused and she couldn't think straight. Still, she had to sit and watch as Malcolm reached out and grabbed Oliver by the throat before he jabbed the syringe into Oliver's chest, effectively delivering the Vertigo remaining in the syringe into Oliver's blood stream before pushing him back into the cell.

On his way out the door Malcolm turned and had the men release Moira from her chair and take her back to her cell before they left, locking the door behind them. Moira sat in the corner until the effects of the small dosage of Vertigo wore off.

**_Mixed POV_ **

Diggle was extremely worried for Oliver. He was unsure just how much Vertigo was left in the syringe when Malcolm injected him with the drug and knew that things were not going to go well. Diggle knew the effects that Vertigo had had on Oliver before, and that was with them having the 'healing herbs' that Oliver had brought back from the Island. He was extremely worried about how things were going to play out this time with them not having that advantage. He couldn't help but remember how aggressive Oliver was last time and the nightmares that the drug induced. Diggle simply hoped that Oliver would pull through this without any lasting effects.

Oliver slid to the floor of his cell knowing that things were not going to go well. He knew that he was taking a chance when he offered to take the drug for his Mom, but he also knew that there was no way he could make her go through that when there was something that he could do to ease her suffering. It didn't take long for the drug coursing through his body to take effect. He knew that soon his vision would blur, his heart rate would sky rocket, he would lose all balance and if he was lucky it would make him pass out. Of course he knew that as soon as that happened then the nightmares would start and he was worried about how everyone would react to them.

Felicity looked on, extremely worried, as Oliver moved to the back of his cell and slid down the back wall. She could see the sweat already pouring off his body and knew that this was only the beginning of the effects that he would suffer. It only took a couple of minutes before she saw his eyes roll into the back of his head as he passed out. Knowing that Oliver had overdosed on Vertigo before with the Count and had come through it did not make it any easier to watch as he battled the drug for a second time.

"Oliver, Ollie wake up!" Laurel cried as she saw Oliver pass out in his cell. She was terrified that Malcolm had caused him to overdose and what it would do to him, that it would kill him.

"Don't worry Laurel, he's been through this before, he'll pull through just fine he just needs time to sweat it out." Diggle stated calmly.

They all watched on as Oliver's body fought the drug that was coursing through him. Sweat was pouring off him and they could see slight tremors on occasion as his body fought back.

After about an hour Diggle recognized the signs that Oliver was in the throes of a nightmare. Oliver started screaming, scaring everyone except Felicity and Diggle who had seen it before. Immediately Team Arrow started calling Oliver's name, trying to wake him from his nightmare, to bring him back to reality, however the Vertigo was making it even harder than usual.

Finally Oliver sat straight up, breathing hard with a terrified look on his face. After several moments of Felicity and Diggle talking to him, trying to reassure him that he was okay, he finally calmed down.

"Oliver, are you alright?" Walter asked with concern obvious in his voice.

"Fine." Oliver stated quietly, clearly still shaken from his nightmare.

"What were you dreaming about Oliver?" Laurel asked, wondering what had caused him to scream like he had.

"The Island."


	10. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you again for your continued support.
> 
> Disclaimer: How many ways can I say that I don't own Arrow.

**_Mixed POV_ **

"What about the Island?" Laurel asked, curious as always.

"Laurel, maybe he doesn't want to talk about it." Felicity said, a little irritated with the brunette.

"Look blondie, we deserve an answer especially after the screams that we just heard! It sounded like someone was killing him in his dreams. We at least deserve to know…" Laurel said, clearly upset before Felicity cut her off.

" ** _No_**! You do  _not_  deserve to know unless Oliver decides that you do. You need to back off and leave him alone!" Felicity replied in her loud voice. She always got really irritated when people tried to drag facts out of Oliver when everyone, okay at least Team Arrow, knew that he wouldn't open up unless he wanted to.

"Felicity." Oliver quietly stated, drawing the attention of everyone to him. "She's right, they deserve an explanation."

Diggle made eye contact with Oliver, wanting him to know that he would support him through anything and everything. He took off his jacket and offered it to Oliver knowing that he had to be cold. It was damp and chilly in their cells and Oliver had just sweated out a fair amount due to the Vertigo which Diggle knew would make him colder than the rest of them.

Oliver took the jacket thanking Diggle quietly for having his back, again. Diggle and Felicity were always there for him and he was extremely thankful for his two closest friends. He walked back over to the corner that his cell shared with Felicity's and sat down, taking a few deep breaths to prepare himself for what he was about to tell them.

Felicity knew that this was going to be difficult for Oliver. He never liked talking about what happen on Lian Yu and she knew that this would  _not_  be an exception. She reached through the bars and put her hand on Oliver's, showing him that she was there for him and would support him.

"I was not always alone, or on the Island." Oliver started quietly, looking straight ahead. He was afraid to look at anyone because he did not know what he would see in their faces. "There was a small space of time where I was held in the hold of a ship, by a man that  _used_ to be my best friend on the Island. He wanted me to suffer for a choice that I had made. He chained me to a pole and brought a generator from somewhere on the ship. He then shocked me multiple times, not unlike Malcolm just did, and that was only one of the times that I was tortured."

Moira watched her son as he told this story and could see the far off look on his face. It was evident that he was right back in the hold of that ship as he was telling this story. She could never have imagined what it was that Oliver had endured on the Island, but she would never had thought that it would be someone that Oliver was close to who would have inflicted this pain on her son. She was finally starting to realize just why it really was that Oliver did not like to talk about the Island – it really had been a living purgatory.

Laurel was awestruck as Oliver told his story. She knew that Oliver had changed on that Island but she had never thought much about what it was that he had endured. She remembered when he had told her and her Dad that he had been tortured, but she never imagined it had happened more than once - much less at the hands of a so called friend. She should have realized from the number of scars that Oliver had that they were not all from one time of being tortured. Now, though, she wondered just what choice Oliver had made that had caused a friend of his to turn on him like he did.

"The Vertigo has many side effects, one being that it induces hallucinations. Unfortunately that means that once I passed out it brought out memories. Because of what Malcolm did today it brought out that particular memory. I'm sorry that you had to listen to my nightmare." Oliver said. He wanted to be sure that they knew the reason this happened.

"I am sorry you had to go through that son." Walter stated, the emotion clear in his voice.

"One should never have to go through that at the hands of a friend or partner." Lance commented. He knew that it would have been bad enough going through that under normal, or not so normal, circumstances but to have had it done to you at the hands of one that you called friend made the betrayal that much worse. Lance now knew why it took so much for Oliver to trust someone and he was honored that even though he had hated Oliver for the longest time, Oliver had still chosen to trust him and come to him for assistance on many occasions in the past.

"Oliver, I am sorry that you had to go through that. I wish that you had never been put in that position. I just want you to know though that this does not change the fact that you are my son and I love you. Nothing that you ever tell me will change that." Moira said to Oliver, tears evident in her eyes and her voice. She wanted her son to know that nothing would change how much he meant to her.

"We should all probably try and get some rest. It's been a long day and we need to make sure we can keep our strength up." Diggle stated, trying to move everyone's thoughts in a different direction so that they would not dwell on the story that Oliver had just told.

Everyone prepared to try and get some rest except for Oliver and Diggle. Oliver knew that after his Vertigo induced nightmare that he was not going to get any more sleep tonight. Diggle stayed alert so that he could be available to Oliver if his friend needed to talk, as well as to keep an eye out for Malcolm in case he decided to return tonight.

Everyone fell asleep under the watchful eye of the Arrow and his trusted friend and partner John Diggle.

….

**_Sara's POV_ **

Sara stormed down the stairs to the lair under Verdant. She was mad, no, not mad, she was  _furious._  First Walter had gone missing. No big deal right, they would find him easy enough, especially with Felicity there to track him down. But then her Dad went missing, then Moira. Then she had gotten the text from Felicity's phone with coordinates where her Dad was supposedly being held. She was supposed to meet Oliver there but when she reached the location he was not to be found. She had pulled out her phone to call in but that wasn't working. Finally, she made it back to town only to find that Laurel had been taken from her apartment, Felicity and Diggle had been taken from the lair, and now Oliver was missing. The only clue that they had was that there was a picture of Merlyn outside of Starling National that was left on the computer screen.

She had been trying to track them down but everyone's trackers either were not on, had been damaged, or the signal was being blocked. Sara had not felt this helpless in a long time and she hated it.

Sara whirled around, bo staff in hand, at the sound of someone coming down the stairs. She breathed a small sigh of relief when she found it was only Roy.

"Any sign of them?" Roy asked, clearly concerned.

"Not a trace. I've been trying to sort through traffic camera feeds, news reports, anything! I can't find a clue anywhere. We need Felicity and her magic tech powers but lucky for Merlyn she's not here." Sara said, becoming increasingly agitated.

Roy was just as furious but had been really trying to reign it in for Thea's sake. He knew that she was taking it really hard since not only her Mom had been taken but so had her step-Dad as well as that her brother was now missing too. If they didn't find a lead soon Roy was afraid that she would lose it and never be able to come back from this.

"Okay, let's go back to what we do know." Sarah said, needing something to work on. "Right after Walter was taken Oliver received a note."

"Right, same with when your Dad and his Mom were taken." Roy added, thankful that they were at least talking things out, maybe that way they would actually make progress. "Do you think he got one after Laurel, Felicity, and Diggle want missing too?"

"You're right! Merlyn would have wanted to lure him in to be able to capture him. What better way than taking Dig and Felicity from right under his nose. I bet the note contained coordinates, or an address where Oliver was supposed to meet him." Sara said getting excited to finally be making some headway on the case.

"So all we have to do is find the last note or two and we should be able to find them from there." Roy said, he was hopeful that they would find something soon so that they could bring their friends home. He just hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

"So where would Oliver put a note with Felicity's location on it?" Sara said as she started to look around. There was no telling where the note could have ended up.


	11. Malcolm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Yup, still not mine.

**_Malcolm's POV_ **

Malcolm sat at his desk with the biggest of grins on his face. Everything up to this point had gone perfectly, exactly as planned - unlike with the Undertaking.

Malcolm had personally abducted everyone in just a couple of nights. He had brought them here to the Glades.  _How fitting,_ he thought,  _bring them to the place that they all worked so hard to protect in order to punish them for getting in my way!_ He had been very careful of when he was caught on the cameras. He had wanted Oliver to know who was abducting everyone knowing that he would play hero and come and get them.

As he sat looking at the screen he almost laughed. Oliver was having a nightmare thanks to the Vertigo that Malcolm had just injected him with. He had carefully prepared that dose. He had decided to give Moira a taste of what she had allowed Thea to partake in, not enough to do serious injury but enough to scare her. Malcolm knew that Oliver would not be able to sit idly by and watch as he did this, so he was sure to include a large enough dose in the syringe for Oliver. A dose that would knock him out, give him nightmares, but that would not kill him – that would ruin all the fun still to come.

Things had worked out perfectly for Malcolm that time as well. As predicted Oliver volunteered, no  _demanded_ , that he be allowed to take Moira's punishment. It was all Malcolm could do not to smile. He loved it when a plan came together.

Malcolm thought back to when he had tazered Walter. That was another of his carefully executed plans. He had purposefully mentioned the fact that the Arrow had saved Walter before, purposefully wondered aloud if someone would step up to take his place. Oliver, again, took the bait as Malcolm knew that he would.

It was never Malcolm's intention to inflict so serious an injury on Moira or Walter as to permanently injure them, he just wanted a little payback for them interfering with the Undertaking. The ultimate goal had always been to torture Oliver, simply doing so in front of everyone would hurt them as well, possibly scar them for life.

That was the whole reason he had taken the bag of supplies with him the first time. He had only ever planned on using the tazer with Walter, Oliver on the other hand was always destined to feel the bite of the generators electricity.

The last time that Malcolm had captured Oliver he had studied the young man. While he was hanging in Malcolm's warehouse unconscious Malcolm had taken stock of all of Oliver's scars. He used that knowledge now to recreate some of the experiences that Oliver would have gone through to gain those scars. Even though Malcolm didn't know the circumstances behind each scar he knew that simply recreating the injuries themselves would cause Oliver to have flashbacks and nightmares. He was counting on those to drive everyone in the cell block away from Oliver.

Malcolm's plan was working perfectly. As he sat playing with the police baton in his hand he laughed. He knew that Oliver would volunteer yet again, what Oliver didn't know was that Malcolm was done letting him take the brunt of the punishment.

People were about to seriously get hurt!

* * *

 

**_Mixed POV_ **

Everyone looked to the door as it opened and Malcolm walked in, again with his two  _assistants_. They silently went straight to Lance's cell, pulled him out, and strung him up in the middle of the room as they had done with Walter.

"Quentin Lance" Malcolm said menacingly.

"What do  _you_  want,  _Merlyn?"_ Lance said, taunting Malcolm and refusing to be intimidated by him.

"I want you to know that interfering with my plans for the Glades was a very,  _very_  bad idea." Malcolm stated as he started to walk around Lance. As he walked around behind Lance he flicked his wrist, causing a Police baton in his hand to extend to its full length.

Laurel gasped in her cell. She had seen those Police batons at work, she knew how strong they were and she knew that whatever Malcolm had planned to do with it was not going to go well for her Dad. She stood, grasping the bars to her cell and watching intently at what Malcolm was doing.

"You should have never gotten involved with helping the Arrow, I mean Oliver. You should have never gone down into the Glades the night of the Undertaking, and you most certainly should  _not_ have touched my device." Malcolm snarled as he swung the baton at Lance, hitting him in the middle of his back.

Lance let out a scream of pain. He had been taken by surprise with the hit from the baton and it  _really_  hurt when you got hit with one of those things. He should know, he had inflicted that pain on more than one criminal during his time on the Police force, and once had had one turned on him. He still remembered the cracked ribs he got that night.

"Stop! Please, don't hurt him anymore. He was just trying to protect the…" Laurel started to plead when she got cut off by Malcolm.

" ** _DO NOT_** tell me he was  _protecting_  anyone." Malcolm roared. "He was doing what he was told was helping the people of the Glades, when in reality he was just hurting them. He should have let the device go off, effectively leveling the scum in the Glades and ridding the city of the low life's that lived there."

Turning back to Lance he then started beating him. Malcolm hit him with varying degrees of force in his chest, back, and ribs to the sounds of Laurel screaming for him to stop. Oliver knew that Lance was going to end up with more than just a few broken ribs if he didn't step in soon.

"Stop Malcolm." Oliver said forcefully. "You can do whatever you want to  _me_. Just stop hurting him."

Malcolm stepped over to Oliver's cell where he stared at him, eye to eye. Malcolm was taunting him now, knowing that Oliver would step up to take Lance's place. It was time that Oliver knew he would not always be able to get people out of situations such as these.

"Lance is going to  _pay_  for what he did." Merlyn spat the words in Oliver's face.

"Malcolm!" Oliver yelled.

" ** _NO_**! You  _cannot_  take his place this time Oliver." Malcolm replied as he swung at Lance yet again. He continued to beat Lance for a couple more minutes until Lance was hoarse from the screaming, the pain was excruciating.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Malcolm's goons dropped Lance to the floor. He cried out in pain and he fell onto his injured ribs. They dragged him back to his cell and threw him to the floor before closing and locking the door behind him.

As Malcolm's two goons left the room Malcolm turned to Oliver. "Do you still want to take some of his punishment?" He asked.

"As long as you leave him alone." Oliver quietly stated.

Suddenly Malcolm pulled a Police service gun and shot Oliver in the side so quickly that not even Oliver had the time to react, probably due to his injured state.

"Fine, you can have the bullet meant for him." Malcolm said, clearly pleased with himself.

Oliver fell to the floor with a small grunt of pain.

"Oliver!" Felicity cried, trying to get as close to him as the bars would allow.

"That should teach you to not be so quick to step in when others are being punished." Malcolm threw over his shoulder on the way out the door, before slamming it shut behind him.

**_Felicity's POV_ **

"Oliver!" Felicity cried pressing herself into the bars that were separating them, trying to reach him but being just out of reach.

This was worse than when he was out fighting bad guys and came back injured. At least then they had a way of taking care of Oliver. Now though they had nothing. No medical supplies, no extra blood, no defibrillator in case his heart stopped beating – again.  _Oh God! Please don't let that happen._  She thought, clearly remembering the night that she first saw Oliver with a gunshot wound.

She had just finished her day at Queen Consolidated and was getting into her little Mini Cooper in the garage when she heard a moan of pain from behind her. She jumped, not having realized that there was someone there when she got in the car. Turning she saw an awful lot of green leather in her back seat.

"Felicity" the voice had said.

"How do you know my name?" She had asked, clearly taken aback by the fact that this guy actually knew her name.

"Because you know mine." Oliver had stated as he looked up to her, pulling off his hood.

That was the night she officially became part of Team Arrow, the night Moira shot her son.  _Oh my God, I wonder if she remembers that she shot the Arrow. How long will it take her before she realizes she shot Oliver? What will she say? Will she apologize? She should, I mean really who shoots their own son and doesn't feel bad about it. I wonder what Oliver will say if she_ does _apologize. Oh no, I'm doing it again, I'm going to stop rambling, even if it isn't out loud. Totally not the point Smoak. Okay! Shutting up now._  Felicity took a deep breath, calming herself.

Felicity was relieved when she realized that Diggle was talking to Oliver.

"How bad is it man?" Diggle asked clearly worried.

"I'm fine." Oliver replied, he was clearly in pain though _. Not that anyone else would be able to tell though_ , Felicity thought,  _I mean, I can hardly tell and I've been working with the man_   _day and night for two years_! _He can be so stubborn - and he really needs to redefine fine._

Oliver slowly moved to the back wall of his cell and pulled himself in to a sitting position. He was out of breath and his  _I'm fine_  mask was slowly slipping. It was starting to become obvious that he was in pain.

"Oliver?" Detective Lance called, the pain still evident in his voice.

"Yes, Detective." Oliver replied quietly, it was obvious to Felicity that he was trying desperately to keep the pain from his voice.

"I know that I haven't always liked you. In fact there was a time that I  _really_ hated you. But you have saved my life on more than one occasion, including tonight, and I just wanted to say Thank You! Thank you for looking out for me and for my daughters when you had no obligation to." Lance stated, the sincerity clear to everyone in the room.

Oliver could only nod his head in acknowledgement, but Felicity and Diggle could tell that the words had meant a lot to Oliver. Felicity was extremely thankful that Lance had spoken to Oliver.

Felicity turned back to Oliver at the same time that he turned to look at her. She looked him in the eyes, trying to send some strength his way. She knew he had to be in no small amount of pain and she wanted to remind him, yet again, that she and Digg were there for him and would help him any way that they could.

She sat for who knows how long, watching Oliver. She wanted to make sure that he really would be fine and it was killing her that she could not help him at all. Felicity was watching Oliver so intently that she jumped fifteen minutes later when the door swung open again. One of Malcolm's goons walked in with a small bowl in his hand. He walked over to Felicity's cell and unlocked it.

"Come here." The man demanded.

Felicity slowly stood to her feet and walked to the entrance of her cell. The man grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her over to the door of Oliver's cell. He thrust the bowl into her hands before opening the door to Oliver's cell and pushing her through.

"Clean him up. Mr. Merlyn is not ready for him to die." The man stated as he locked the cell door behind her. "Don't even think about using any of that against me. I am not afraid to hurt you or anyone else if you do." He stated as he walked over and stood by the main door.

Felicity looked down and saw a few medical supplies in the bowl. It wasn't anything fancy but she knew that it would work to rid Oliver of the bullet in his side and stitch him up. The only thing was, this was Digg's job, and she hated blood. As she looked to Oliver though she realized that she was his only help - it was time to face her fear in order to help him.

She walked quickly back to where Oliver was sitting. Getting on her knees she looked at Oliver and said, "I'm going to take that bullet out Oliver. I'm sure it's going to hurt, and I'm sorry, but I can't leave it in there when you are clearly in so much pain."

Oliver reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand and Felicity leaned into his touch. "Felicity, you're going to do fine. Digg can walk you through what to do and I'll help when I can. You can do this! I have faith in you." Oliver said quietly yet with conviction.

Felicity nodded. "Okay. I can do this." She said with a shake of her head.

"Okay, Felicity, the first thing we need to do is clean the wound." Diggle stated from the cell next to her.

Felicity looked around for a water bottle, she noted that Oliver's had a little bit of water left but she didn't want to use it knowing that he would need it later.

"Here Felicity." Moira stated quickly, concern evident in her voice. "You can use the rest of this one. There is some left from the extra bottle we got earlier." She handed Diggle, who then passed it to Felicity, the bottle of water that she had used to clean Walter's burns; there was just enough left to clean Oliver's gunshot wound so that she could see what she was doing.

After flushing the wound with water she looked to Diggle for some direction. She had seen him do this many times before but the thought of doing it herself still scared her.

"Use the forceps to find and pull out the bullet." Diggle stated, knowing that Felicity was scared to do this but that she was more than capable.

Felicity picked up the medical tool and tuned to Oliver. She looked intently at the wound focusing on her task to the point that she didn't realize that her hand was shaking until she felt Oliver place his hand on hers. She looked up into Oliver's blue eyes.  _Such beautiful blue eyes._  She thought suddenly. Oliver smiled at the same time Diggle gave a small laugh next to her, "Oh God, I just said that out loud didn't I?" Felicity said horrified.

Oliver gave a small chuckle before saying, "Felicity, I know this is hard for you but you can do this. Don't think too hard about it, okay."

"Okay." Felicity shook her head some, reassuring herself that she wasn't  _really_ going to kill Oliver by taking out one single bullet.

She then set to her task. She was able to pull out the bullet, clean the wound and sew it all up rather quickly she thought. Once she was done she looked back to Oliver. He hadn't said a word the entire time. In fact the only sound that he had made was a couple of grunts of pain as she was digging the bullet out. Now he sat with his head leaning against the wall and his eyes were closed.

Felicity reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. "Oliver, I'm done." She said quietly as she was blinking back tears, the emotion clear in her voice.

"Thank you Felicity." Oliver replied as he leaned into her touch.

Right at that moment the guard chose to came back and remover her from Oliver's cell. Time for her to go back to her own cell. The guard collected the medical supplies, locked her back in her cell and walked out the door, locking it securely behind him.

Felicity moved to the corner closest to Oliver – again. She couldn't stand not being right next to him when he was hurt like this. She wished there was something that she could do to take away his pain.


	12. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Again.... I do not own Arrow.

Laurel watched, terrified, as Malcolm beat her Dad with that Police baton. She knew that he was strong, and more than capable of pulling though this, but she was afraid of the physical damage that was being inflicted.

Laurel couldn't tear her eyes away from her Dad. When Merlyn stepped away to talk to Oliver her Dad looked up to her, looking her in the eyes, trying to let her know that he would be okay and she shouldn't worry. However, when Merlyn yelled at Oliver and turned back to her Dad she was afraid that Merlyn would kill him just because Oliver volunteered to take his place.  _Why can't Oliver for once stay out of other people's business? If he had kept his mouth shut then maybe Dad would have been let go by now. Besides, it's all Ollie's fault that we are here anyway. If he hadn't recruited Dad to help him with the earthquake device then Dad wouldn't be here._

Laurel was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of Lance being released from the chains. She winced when he fell and landed on his obviously injured ribs. Laurel moved as close to her Dad as she could when he was thrown into his cell.

"Dad, are you okay?" Laurel quietly asked, concerned.

Laurel noticed that her Dad wasn't even looking at her right now, he was focused on what Oliver and Malcolm were talking about. She let out a shriek as she heard a gun go off and noticed that Malcolm was holding a gun that looked like her Dad's service weapon.

Laurel looked over to where Oliver lay in his cell, holding a hand to his side, and wondered what he had done to get shot. Her unspoken question was answered when she heard her Dad start a conversation.

"Oliver?" Laurel heard her Dad say, clearly in pain.

"Yes, Detective." Oliver replied quietly.

"I know that I haven't always liked you. In fact there was a time that I  _really_ hated you. But you have saved my life on more than one occasion, including tonight, and I just wanted to say Thank You! Thank you for looking out for me and for my daughters when you had no obligation to." Lance stated sincerely.

Laurel couldn't believe it. Somehow, throughout the course of the last few minutes Oliver saved her Dad's life,  _again_. Slowly she came to the realization that the bullet that Oliver took was originally meant for her Dad.

Laurel looked to her Dad, covering her mouth with her hands, eyes wide, as she realized just how close she was to possibly seeing her Dad killed right next to her. Lance looked to her sympathetically.

"Hey, Laurel, I'm fine. Don't worry it's just a few broken ribs and a lot of bruises." Lance told his daughter as he moved to be next to her.

Laurel sat on the floor next to her Dad and reached for his hand. They sat like this for a few minutes, she was simply thankful that her Dad was alive at the moment.

Suddenly the door opened and in walked one of Malcolm's goons with a small bowl. Laurel watched as the man walked over to Felicity's cell, roughly pulled her out and pushed her into Oliver's cell after handing her the bowl and moved over by the door.

Laurel watched Oliver and Felicity as she went over to where he was sitting against the back wall of his cell and Felicity kneeled down next to him. She couldn't hear everything that was being said but she understood that Felicity was going to remove the bullet from Oliver's side.  _Is she really going to do that here? It's not sanitary and I'm sure that she doesn't know what she's doing. Surely she's going to do more harm than good._ Laurel thought as she watched Felicity pick up the medical supplies.

Laurel then watched in amazement as not only did Felicity remove the bullet from Oliver's side, but somehow Oliver only made a couple sounds of pain during the whole process, and then the two of them exchanged some tender touches, right in front of everyone.

Laurel couldn't look any longer. She had shared moments like that with Oliver, where he would caress her face. Those days were long gone now. She absently wondered if the rumors were really true, if Felicity really had slept her way to being Oliver's  _secretary_.

Laurel turned back to her Dad. She could tell that he was still in a lot of pain, but there was nothing she could do about it. She simply held his hand, hoping that someone would come rescue them soon.

**_Moira's POV_ **

After Moira handed the remaining water to Felicity she couldn't take her eyes off of her and Oliver. They exchanged a few tender moments where it seemed like it was only the two of them in the whole world and Moira was curious, yet again, just how close the two of them were.

Moira was surprised that Felicity was actually able to remove the bullet from Oliver, clean the wound, and stitch him back up. She hadn't thought Medic was one of the highlights on the blonde's resume. She was thankful, though, that someone was able to see to her son's injuries.

As Moira sat and watched Felicity work she was suddenly brought back to the night at Queen Consolidated when the Vigilante had come to see her in her office. She was terrified and had begged for her life, for her children, and he had lowered his bow, right before she shot him.

Moira gasped, causing everyone to look to her. She looked at Oliver horrified.

"I shot you!" Moira stated, horrified.

"I was wondering when she would remember that." Diggle said quietly with a chuckle that only Oliver heard.

Moira turned back to Oliver and watched as he slowly stood to his feet and walked to the front left corner of his cell to be closer to her.  _Did he move that slowly after I shot him? I wonder who took care of him after, who took the bullet out. Where did I shoot him?_ Moira wondered as she moved to the corner of her cell closest to Oliver.

"Oliver, I'm so sorry son! I didn't know it was you." Moira said with tears in her eyes. "All I knew was that someone was threatening me and I didn't want to leave you and Thea alone. You both had already been through so much and I just did want you both to have to go through losing another parent. Oliver, will you please forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you Mom. I'm fine now, you don't have to worry." Oliver replied calmly. "You didn't know that it was me and you were just trying to protect yourself and your family. I promise, I'm fine."

Moira was still horrified that she shot her own son, even if she didn't know it was him at the time. What if she had killed him? "How bad was it? The gunshot wound. How bad? Where did I shoot you? I need to see!" Moira asked, needing to know how much damage she had done. Moira watched as Oliver carefully removed Diggle's jacket.

"It was right here." Oliver stated as he pointed to a small scar on his left shoulder.

Moira looked carefully, it looked like the wound had healed just fine and there was only the smallest of scars on his chest from it. Suddenly she realized just how close it must have come to his heart.  _I almost killed him! If that bullet had been any closer to his heart then my boy wouldn't be here today._

"Mom." Oliver quietly called, pulling her from her thoughts. "Mom, look at me." Moira slowly pulled her eyes from the scar on Oliver's chest to his eyes. "I'm fine! I am completely healed from it and had no lasting effects from it. You did what you felt you had to do and you had no way of knowing that it was me. It was not your fault."

"Oliver's right Moira. You were only protecting yourself. He hasclearly healed from it so there is no reason why you should continue to blame yourself." Walter said, trying to pull Moira from her thoughts.

"Who took care of you? I don't remember you being in a hospital around that time, in fact you walked right into the mansion the next morning." Moira asked, confused as to who had taken care of him.

"Felicity and I took care of him Mrs. Queen." Diggle said.

Moira had a new found respect for Diggle and Felicity. They had taken care of her son when she had failed.

"Thank You! Both of you!" Moira said sincerely as she looked first to Diggle then to Felicity. "You have looked after Oliver and taken better care of him that I have. For that I owe you my gratitude."

Felicity looked her in the eyes, giving a small nod of acknowledgment.

**_Felicity POV_ **

Felicity knew that Moira would eventually remember that she had shot Oliver and frankly it had taken longer that she thought it would. As she watched the exchange between the two she actually felt bad for Moira. It had to hurt knowing that she had shot her own son. When Moira thanked her and Diggle she had been very surprised. Felicity knew that it had taken a lot for her to say that and it meant a lot to her.

After the conversation between Moira and Oliver everyone was very quiet, each processing the exchange in their own way. Felicity watched as Oliver slowly turned and walked back to the corner by Felicity and sat down with his back to the wall. He then reached through the bars and took her hand, giving her a small, tired smile.

"Get some rest Oliver, you need it." Felicity told him, knowing that even if he wouldn't admit it he really needed some rest.

"Thank you Felicity, for being here and for your support." Oliver said quietly.

Felicity could hear the thankfulness in his voice. "Goodnight Oliver." She said, as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. She hoped that he would be able to get the rest that he needed without another nightmare.


	13. Nightmare

**_Mixed POV_ **

Oliver was thankful that Felicity was here with him, even if he didn't want to admit it. She was his anchor, his light, his joy. He didn't know what he would do without her right now. Just the touch of her hand in his was comforting. He leaned his head back, hoping to get at least a bit of sleep before a nightmare woke him up. He had a feeling that today's events would bring on another nightmare.

Diggle sat and watched as Oliver and Felicity held hands. He knew that his friend would need her touch to keep him from going back into the dark places of his memory. As Oliver leaned back to go to sleep Diggle sincerely hoped that he would be able to get through the night without a nightmare.

It was several hours after the conversation between Oliver and Moira that Felicity was awakened by Oliver's moans beside her. His hand had fallen from hers a while ago and now he was clearly in the middle of a nightmare. She quickly looked to Diggle for help.

"Don't touch him Felicity, you know what happens." Diggle stated, clearly worried that Felicity would touch Oliver and that the younger man would hurt her.

Suddenly Oliver cried out in pain, fully waking everyone else, before he sat straight up, breathing heavily. He looked frantically around, clearly still not fully awake.

"Oliver, wake up. Please, Oliver." Felicity said quietly from beside him. She and Diggle talked to him quietly and calmly for a couple of minutes before he seemed to snap out of his dream fully.

Oliver turned to Felicity, an apology evident in his face.

"Are you okay Oliver?" Felicity asked, concerned about what it was that plagued his dreams tonight.

"I'm…" Oliver started.

"Fine, I know." Felicity finished for him slightly exasperated. "You're always fine. I should know better than to ask by now."

Diggle laughed from across the cell and teased. "You already knew that answer so why did you even ask him?"

"Oliver?" Moira asked, concerned for her son.

"I guess I owe you another explanation." Oliver stated sadly. He knew that they deserved to know what had caused him to scream in his sleep again, he just didn't like the thought of having to let them in on another fact about his time away.

"Do you remember me telling you yesterday that I was held on a ship for a while?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, you said that was where your friend tortured you." Lance replied, he remembered how hard it was to hear that story and he knew this one wouldn't be any easier to hear.

"That's right. That wasn't the first time I was on that ship though. The first time was before that. There was a man named Ivo that came to the Island on the ship. He was looking for something and his men captured me during their search for it. They brought me back to the hold of the ship and threw me into a cell." Oliver started telling them. He paused to take a calming breath, looking to Felicity for support. She gave him a small smile and nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"Within my first few hours on the ship the captain came down into the hold and shot me in the side. It was the first time I had ever been shot with a gun." Oliver stated, careful not to say that it was the first time he had ever been shot because he had experienced an arrow in the shoulder before that. "I probably passed out from the pain and when I came to I noticed a small bowl of medical supplies just outside the bars of my cell, not too different from the ones Felicity just used. I was told that only the strong survive and came to realize that they expected me to take care of it myself, wanted to see if I'd survive. I didn't do a really good job, but I got the bullet out and was able to get some stitches in."

Felicity knew this was another hard story for Oliver to tell. He didn't like talking about his Island experiences and all she wanted to do was hug him when he did share. Having a past like that was probably the hardest thing to deal with. Felicity was just glad that he was opening up, even if he didn't want to. She placed her hand on his arm for comfort knowing he would need it.

"This wound is almost exactly where the first one was." Oliver stated.

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed Oliver's story. Each person processing Oliver's story. After a while they started to go to sleep one by one, all except Oliver who kept watch – again.

**_Oliver's POV_ **

Oliver sat holding Felicity's hand as everyone around him slept. He would never admit it but he was worried. Worried that after this they would never trust him again. He was supposed to be the Arrow, the man under the hood who kept everyone safe, the one who protected them. Instead Merlyn was beating the crap out of everyone and there wasn't much that he could do about it.

As Oliver looked to Walter he thought back to when he had asked him for the name of an IT person that he could trust. Without thinking Walter had given him the name Felicity Smoak. Walter had taken care of his family while he was gone, he had done wonders with QC, he had helped Oliver buy back the company when Isabelwas trying to take over and even now, even while he was still in pain from the tazer, he was looking after his mom. Walter Steele was a strong man and Oliver was thankful that he had beenaround when the Gambit went down.

Oliver then looked to his mom. Sure, she had made some mistakes but she had tried. All she ever wanted to do was protect her family and Oliver figured that a lot of what she did was because she had been threatened, like the night he confronted her as the Arrow. He should have known that it was a bad idea to corner her like he had and he shouldn't have been surprised when she pulled the pistol out after he laid down his bow. She had shot him and it had hurt like hell, but he knew why she did it. She was a mama bear trying to protect her cubs from the hunter. Even now, after everything that she had said and done, she was still worried for him. One day he would get the chance to tell her that despite everything she really was a great mom.

Oliver then turned his gaze to Detective Lance. Lance had hated him for years and Oliver knew that he had deserved it. Not only had he been playboy Oliver who slept with both of Lance's girls but he had taken Sara on the Gambit with him and everyone thought that she had died on that boat. When he got back and became the Arrow Lance hated him even more, even if the Detective wasn't aware of it at the time. Lance thought that Oliver was acting outside the law and he was right, especially during that first year. Lance was surprised when Oliver stopped killing everyone, had helped him many times, and had recentlyevenspent some time in prison for him. He would have to be sure to thank the man for everything that he had done to help bothTeam Arrow and Oliver personally.

Looking towards Laurel, Oliver wasn't entirely sure what to think. She had loved him, then hated him; she had helped him as the Vigilante, then hunted him as the Arrow, before finally being able to stand being near him. He knew a lot of that had to do with the way that he had treated her. Running away with her sister was his first mistake, in many ways. He wondered what she would think of him by the end of this.

Oliver then turned to his left, looking at his friend and partner John Diggle. The day that Digg had walked into his life Oliver had vowed that there was no way Digg would stick around. Oliver had ditched him numerous times, told him countless lies, and even knocked him out once or twice. It wasn't until Digg had walked away, quit, that Oliver realized just how much he had come to appreciate the other man. It wasn't long after that that Digg had been shot by Deadshot and poisoned by curare. Oliver had some herbs left from the Island so thankfully he was able to help Digg before it killed him. Digg had been by his side, faithfully helping out with everything, watching his back. Oliver didn't know what he would have done if Digg had walked away permanently. He just hoped that this experience didn't cause the man to leave for good. He needed his partner!

Lastly Oliver looked to Felicity, their feisty IT girl. She seemed like a fragile person, however once you got to know her you realized that she was more than capable of holding her own. She was one of the only people who would stand up to him, tell him when he is being stupid and/or childish. She had even locked him into the Foundryone night when he was headed out to track down another name on the List. All he was going to do was give him a warning and she begged that he not go because the man had a son. Later, she had taken a bullet meant for Sara. That had really scared him when he found out what had happened. He wanted to put her in bubble wrap and lock her away so that nothing could ever happen to her.

What scared Oliver most was what would happen to Felicity at the hands of Malcolm. He had been kind to his mom, and even to Walter. Oliver knew that Malcolm had stepped up the game with Lance and was worried about what would happen to Laurel. He knew that Digg would be more than able to withstand whatever Malcolm had planned, but mostly he was afraid for Felicity. She had shown amazing strength so far, even when she had to take care of his bullet wound – especially as she hated the sight ofblood. He just hoped that she would hang on through whatever Malcolm had planned. If Oliver had it his way though he would get them out before it got that far. He just had to wait for the right time, the right opportunity.


	14. Tommy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still Don't Own Arrow.

**Chapter 14 _-_ Tommy**

**_Mixed POV_ **

Everyone started to wake up a few hours after Oliver explained his last nightmare. The first to stir were Walter and Diggle.

"How are you feeling Walter?" Oliver asked, concerned for his step-father.

"I'm doing okay. The burns are still a bit sore but nothing too bad." Walter replied. Oliver was very happy that the burns were not still bothering him. He looked to the other side of the cell block as he heard a groan from Lance.

"Detective, are you alright?" Oliver asked the man.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a Detective anymore?" Lance asked, trying to sound irritating but coming across as teasing. "My ribs are a bit sorer than they were when I got here, no thanks to  _Merlyn_ and I have a few new colorful bruises, but other than that I'm fine. How about yourself? You can be honest with us you know." Lance was trying to get Oliver to open up some.

"I'm fine Detective. A little sore like yourself, but nothing bad. I've been through worse before." Oliver stated nonchalantly. He wanted the men to know that he was okay and tolet them know that he could handle whatever Malcolm sent his way.

"Just in case you were wondering he always says he's fine. He really needs to redefine what fine is!" Felicity stated sleepily next to Oliver. He looked at her and laughed, knowing she was right and not wanting to admit it.

"What do you say Oliver? Has he left us alone for the whole night?" Diggle asked confused as to why they were all allowed to get a full night's sleep.

"It seems so." Oliver replied, equally as confused. So far Malcolm had come in just hours apart and this time it has been at least twice as long as usual. Oliver was a bit concerned as to what that would mean.

Just as Laurel and Moira started to wake up Oliver heard footsteps in the hallway. He gave Felicity's hand a small squeeze before standing to his feet slowly, still a bit sore from the gunshot wound.

**_Malcolm's POV_ **

Malcolm threw open the door to the cell block with a loud bang to make sure that everyone was awake. He had left them alone for longer than before and wanted to make sure they were all ready for him to have some more fun. He had enjoyed watching the night before as Felicity had patched up Oliver. He allowed them precious few moments together and told his man, via the earpiece, to break them up as soon as Felicity was done. He didn't want them to get too comfortable together, not with what he had planned next.

Malcolm told his two men who came in with him to pull Laurel out of her cell and put her in the chair in the room. She came out kicking and screaming, protesting being pulled out of her cell. Once she was secured to the chair he then turned to Oliver.

"Why don't you come join us as well Oliver." Malcolm said with a grin on his face again. He motioned again to the men with him who roughly pulled Oliver out of his cell and strung him up in the middle of the room putting pressure on his shoulder again and stretching his injured side.

"Laurel, you started to date my son Tommy while Oliver was on Lian Yu, you stayed with him when Oliver got back." Malcolm stated as he paced in front of Oliver and Laurel. He slowly pulled out a knife with a long blade as he continued. "Yet, as soon as Oliver came to you and said he wanted you back you fell into bed with him, effectively breaking my son's heart." He walked around behind Laurel and leaned down into her ear, touching her arm with the tip of the knife. "I don't allow  _anyone_  to break my child's heart without being punished." He finished as he slid the knife down Laurel's arm giving her a cut from her shoulder to her elbow. It wasn't deep, it would heal just fine.

"Malcolm!" Oliver said menacingly.

**_Laurel's POV_ **

Laurel couldn't help the scream of pain that came out when Malcolm slid the knife down her arm. It was a long cut, but didn't look like it was too deep. She had known as soon as Malcolm said Tommy's name why she was here. She had loved Tommy and knew that when she slept with Oliver it would upset him. She didn't realize just how much it had upset him until this moment. She didn't really see him much after that and besides, he had just broken up with her so she could do whatever she wanted right? It's not her fault that he hadn't actually wanted to break up with her.

"You had been warned to stay out of the Glades the night of the Undertaking and yet still you went. You are the reason that Tommy was in the Glades,  _you_  are the reason that he was at CNRI, and  ** _YOU_**  are the reason he is dead." Malcolm snarled as he walked around in front of her again, holding the knife right in front of her. "You cut my son's heart in two when you went back to Oliver, now I'm going to do the same to you!"

"Malcolm, don't do this, leave my baby girl alone." Her Dad cried from next to her.

"She broke my son's heart, now it's time she knows how much it can hurt." Malcolm snarled as he started to inflict small cuts on her arms and torso.

Laurel cried out in pain as Malcolm gave her several small cuts. She was afraid that he was going kill her. She looked up to where Oliver was hanging near her and saw the look on his face. If looks could kill, Merlyn would be dead.

**_Oliver's POV_ **

Oliver struggled against the chains as Malcolm was torturing Laurel. He knew the cuts he was inflicting on her were hurting due to the screams that she was letting out.

"Leave her alone Malcolm." Oliver growled. Laurel might not be his favorite person right now, but he also couldn't just sit and watch her being tortured.

"What would you like to do about it Oliver? You're strung up there incapable of doing anything and she's tied to a chair." Malcolm taunted Oliver.

"Just leave her alone!" Oliver demanded.

"Fine, you want me to leave her alone I will." Malcolm stated turning to Laurel. "Your knight in green leather has begged for your life yet again. He always swoops in to save the day, to rescue whoever is in trouble. Except he  _didn't_  save Tommy's life.  _He_  is the one that came to you and begged for you to go back to him.  _He_  is the one who convinced his mother to warn people in the Glades about the Undertaking and  ** _HE_**  is the last one that was in CNRI when Tommy was trapped and did nothing about it.  _He_  is the reason that my  _son_  is dead." Reaching to his side Malcolm suddenly pulled a sword and turned to Oliver, drawing it down his torso leaving a deep gash.

It was all Oliver could do to hold back the scream of pain that was working its way up when Malcolm cut him. He closed his eyes for a second and tried to take a deep breath to regain control. As he looked up he could see Felicity at the front of her cell, worry clear on her face.

"Put her back in her cell and bring out Mr. Diggle." Malcolm stated as he turned back to Oliver. "If he so much as even thinks about fighting back I will thrust this into his heart. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Oliver replied as he looked to Diggle. Digg gave him a small nod to indicate that he understood as well.

Malcolm's two men went to Diggle's cell and roughly pulled him to the center of the room where they bound his hands and then strung him up with a second set of chains right next to Oliver, making sure that he was barely touching the ground.

"Oliver, do you remember when you saved my life after Deadshot tried to kill me?" Malcolm asked as he stood in front of the two men with that evil grin of his. "The reason you had to do anything was not because I was shot but because the bullets were laced with something. Something that even Mr. Diggle here has had the pleasure of experiencing. Do you remember what that was?" Malcolm asked a he wiped down the sword with a cloth.

Oliver was becoming increasingly worried as he watched Malcolm. He knew what the man was talking about as he coated his sword with something, he could smell it. He looked to Diggle as they both answered Malcom's question at the same time.

"Curare!"


	15. Curare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrow belongs to the CW.

**Chapter 15 – Curare**

_**Mixed POV** _

Felicity knew her boys were in serious trouble. She had heard the story a few times of when Digg had been poisoned by curare. The only way he had survived that was because Oliver had his 'special herbs' from the island. She was terrified for them now since they did not have them here. She watched as Malcolm wiped his sword down with something, probably the curare.  _ **  
**_

Lance was worried for Oliver and Diggle. He had been the Detective investigating the cases with Deadshot and the curare before, and he knew from what the lab at the precinct had told him about it that it was a deadly poison. He had also talked to the doctors who had treated Merlyn after the attack that poisoned him with the curare as well. He knew that if Oliver hadn't acted as quickly as he had then Merlyn would have died from paralysis. The drug would paralyze all voluntarily controlled muscles in the body, including respiration, depriving the body of oxygen and then ultimately the heart would stop beating due to the lack of oxygen. He was afraid that Malcolm was about to kill the two men hanging in the middle of the room.

"You both have caused me quite a lot of trouble. You Mr. Diggle have played an integral part in sabotaging my Undertaking. You have spent years helping this playboy pretend to be a  _hero_  when in all reality all you are doing is supervising a little boy with an archery hobby. You helped Oliver after I tried to kill him, you rescued him after I abducted him, and you tried to kill me the night the Glades fell. You have spent too much time gallivanting around town with this  _joke_  of a man next to you and because of that you are going to pay." Malcolm stated as he paced in front of the men hanging in the middle of the room, rotating the sword in his hand.

"Malcolm, leave him out of this. You're quarrel is with me, not him." Oliver growled in his Arrow voice.

"Oh Mr. Queen, you are sadly mistaken. Anyone who got in the way of my Undertaking must pay." Malcolm replied as he walked over and stood in front of Diggle. "Mr. Diggle here is just another person that got in my way." He said as he inflicted a small cut across Diggle's chest.

Diggle tried to hold back but could not help but cry out in pain. The sword travelling across his chest didn't pierce too deep but it still burned. What really worried Diggle was the fact that the blade was laced with curare. He knew that it wouldn't take long before his muscles started to become paralyzed making it hard to breathe and his vision was already starting to become blurry. He looked over to Oliver and saw the look of concern on his face. He tried to give his friend and partner a look that said he would be okay before he passed out.

" _Diggle!_ ** _Digg answer me_** _._ " Oliver cried with concern. He knew what the curare had done to Diggle before, knew what it was capable of and he was afraid for his friend's life – he didn't have a cure or his herbs.

"He can't hear you Oliver, he has passed out. In just a moment he will be paralyzed. Don't worry though. He won't die and there won't be any lasting effects." Malcolm stated with a smirk on his face.

"What have you done Malcolm, are you going to kill an innocent person?" Moira cried from her cell. She may not have known Diggle very well, however, she didn't want to see him die!

"Moira, Moira, Moira. I just said he wasn't going to die. Not  _yet_  anyway." Malcolm said, bored. He turned back to Oliver. "You, Oliver Queen, keep getting in my way – time and time and time again." He said as he put the tip of his sword under Oliver's chin. "Time for another one of your punishments." Malcolm then, using the tip of the sword traced three of Oliver's scars on his torso with the tip of the sword.

Oliver clenched his jaw again, knowing that if he screamed then Malcolm would get the satisfaction of thinking he had finally broken though his defenses. No, he had to remain strong, silent so that Malcolm would never think that he won and the others would still believe in him. Oliver looked past Malcolm to Felicity in the cell in front of him. She was standing there, tears in her eyes, and he could tell she was worried. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, tried to tell her that he was fine.

Oliver could feel the curare beginning its work. He focused on his breathing, trying to slow it down which would lower his heart rate and slow the spread of the poison in his system. As he hung there and the poison worked he continued to look at Felicity, hoping that she understood that he would pull through this, that he would be fine, and that he  _would_  find a way to get them out of this.

The last thing that Oliver saw before he passed out was Felicity's face, streaked with tears and her hand reaching for him.

Malcolm watched as both Oliver and Diggle passed out. He had spent a good deal of time on this particular version of curare. He knew that if he dosed the men with the poison at full strength then he would end up killing them both and he wasn't ready for that yet. He had diluted the curare with a saline solution to lower the potency of it. It would paralyze them without disrupting their respiratory systems. It would also only last for about four hours. When they woke up they would have what felt like the biggest hangovers of their life - and for Oliver that was saying a lot.

"Don't worry, they will wake up eventually. They won't be dead, or seriously harmed, and there won't be any lasting effects." Malcolm said as he headed towards the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned to the two men that came in with him. "Gentlemen, please return Mr. Diggle to his cell and prepare Miss. Smoak. I will return when Oliver wakes up and we will continue our fun."


	16. The Search

Sara couldn't believe it! They had looked everywhere for that stupid note and she was beginning to think that it was just a figment of their imagination. The only clue that there really was a note was that they did actually find the plain white envelope with Oliver's name written on bold lettering on it, so they at least knew that the note existed, they just didn't know where.

Sara had looked everywhere around Felicity's computers, Roy wouldn't touch them because he knew what Felicity would do to him if he did and one of them broke. She had looked in the bathroom, in the laundry room, she had pulled the cushions off the green couch to see if it was there, and she had even looked through everything they had in the medical area and found nothing. She was out of ideas as to where to look.

Sara sat in Felicity's desk chair with a sigh. Leaning back she closed her eyes for just a second to try and figure out where it could be stashed when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Sara knew without even looking that it was Roy due to the heavy footsteps that only he had.

"How is Thea holding up?" Sara asked Roy, concerned for the young woman.

"She is doing about as good as can be expected. She has thrown herself into the club to keep herself busy until SCPD can give her some news. I hope we get to them first though!" Roy replied, worried for his girlfriend.

"I just don't know where else to look. We have been running camera searches for each of them, I've had the tracker program that Felicity has on the whole time hoping we pick up a signal, and I've look everywhere in town for Oliver's Ducati and have had no luck finding anything. Not to mention we still can't find that  _stupid_  note!" Sara said, becoming increasingly agitated.

Suddenly Sara stood to her feet and walked over to the Salmon Ladder. She really only used it when she really needed to work off steam and now was definitely one of those times. She reached for the bar and made her way to the top of the ladder rather quickly before jumping back down again. She repeated this process until on the third time at the top she stopped for a second and looked around. Suddenly something in the back corner of the lair caught her attention. It looked like a small while ball of something. She dropped to the floor silently and quickly walked over to the corner and picked up a small, wadded up, plain white piece of paper and read the message:  _A blonde, a brunette and a bodyguard. The collection is almost complete. Come alone_ Arrow _!_  Sara looked to the bottom of the page and saw a set of coordinates.

" _ROY!"_  Sara called to the young man.

"What's wrong Sara?" Roy asked, clearly concerned.

"I found them! Look!" Sara said as she handed Roy the note. She walked over to the computer and pulled up the map of the city. "It looks like this is where they are being held." She said as she brought up an aerial view of the coordinates listed on the map.

"Do you think they are still there?" Roy asked, ready to bring them home.

"There is only one way to find out. You get all the medical supplies out and ready in case we need them when we get back. I'll grab Oliver's extra quiver and suit up. Be ready to leave in five." Sara said, ready to head out and bring their Team, and her family, back home at last.  _ **  
**_

_**Felicity's POV** _

Felicity had watched as Malcolm hung Oliver in the center of the room. She had been thoroughly scared when Malcolm had brought out his sword and had flinched when he cut Oliver with it, but became even more scared when he brought Diggle out and was coating his sword with the curare. She knew from past stories and missions that it was a deadly drug and she was scared to death that she was about to lose her boys, her friends, her partners.

Felicity had been slightly relieved when Digg had passed out only because that meant he would not realize the pain that he was probably in. However, she had to watch as Malcolm inflicted more pain on Oliver as he proceeded to cut Oliver along three of the scars on his torso. Felicity could not help the tears rolling down her face. She knew that Oliver had been through so much when he first got those scars and now Malcolm was probably bringing those memories back to the surface by hurting him in the same places all over again.

Felicity reached out towards Oliver as he looked to her. All she wanted to do was to reach out and touch him, hold him close and tell him everything really was going to be okay. But she couldn't do that because she was in the wretched cell and he was out of reach. She watched as his head slowly dropped forward as he passed out.

Felicity watched as Merlyn walked towards the door. Right before he walked out he turned and told the other men in the room to put Digg back in his cell and prepare her for what was coming next. She was  _terrified_. She had seen what he had done to everyone else that was here and knew that he was progressively getting harsher and harsher with the pain that he was inflicting on people.

Felicity wanted to fight back when the men came to retrieve her from her cell. She really didn't want to go out there but had absolutely no choice in the matter. They roughly pulled her to the wall that was behind Oliver, the wall with the door on it, and shackled her to the wall so that her arms were reaching out as far as they would go to either side of her. They then shackled her feet to the wall as well with short chains. There was no where she could go, nothing that she could do to get out of this.

After they had secured her to the wall the men walked over to where Oliver was hanging in the middle of the room and turned him around so he could now see her. This scared Felicity even more as she knew that whatever Malcolm had planned it was not good and Oliver would be all shades of pissed when he came to and realized where she was and what kind of position she was in.

As Felicity stood chained to the wall for almost four hours she could not help but think about what she was going to say to Oliver when he woke up. She knew that he would need a pep talk, especially since he would not be able to actually  _do_ anything to help her, and she needed a game plan as to what she was going to say. She had to make sure the he didn't give up - no matter what happened.

_**Malcolm's POV** _

Malcolm sat in his office watching the monitors again. He was simply waiting until he saw Mr. Diggle wake up to head back to the cells. It was almost time to inflict the most pain on Oliver, physical and emotional. He knew that what he had planned could very well break Oliver and he hoped that it would and that everyone would realize that the Arrow wasn'treally as strong as he seemed.

As soon as Mr. Diggle started to stir in his cell Malcolm walked over to his weapons and started to prepare for the next round of fun. He picked up his bow, his quiver, one of Oliver's green arrows and lastly his whip.


	17. Felicity

_**Diggle's POV** _

When Diggle started to come to the first thing that he noticed was that his head was pounding. He head hadn't hurt this much since his transport had been flipped by a land mine in Kandahar during his Special Forces days. He kept his eyes closed and slowly took stock of the rest of his body. He could tell that he was no longer hanging in the center of the room due to the cold ground underneath of him. He knew that he had a gash on his chest from where Malcolm had cut him and poisoned him with the curare.  _That must be what is causing this massive headache. That's right, last time it felt like I had a massive hangover, this feels different so he must have used an altered version of the curare._

Diggle slowly started to move, being careful not to move too quickly and hurt himself even more. He started with his fingers and toes to make sure he still had mobility there, before slowly positioning himself to where he could roll over. Once he rolled over he slowly opened his eyes, being careful not to do it too quickly so that the light didn't make the headache even worse. It didn't work!

Diggle slowly brought himself to a sitting position and looked around him. He noticed that Oliver was still hanging in the center of the room and saw a few drops of blood down by his boots. _Malcolm must have cut him as well._  As he continued to look around he realized that Felicity was no longer in her cell. In a bit of a panic he stood to his feet, a bit wobbly, and looked around for her.

"Felicity! Felicity where are you?" Diggle called, worried.

"I'm over here Digg. On the back wall. Malcolm had me chained to the wall. Whatever he has planned can't be good." Felicity replied. Diggle could tell that she was scared and was simply trying not to show it. "Are you okay Digg?" She asked, clearly worried for him.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Just have a killer headache is all." He replied to his Teammate.

Diggle turned to the door as he heard footsteps coming. He had a feeling that once Malcolm stepped through that door things were going to get really bad really fast.

_**Mixed POV** _

Malcolm walked through the door dressed as the Dark Archer once again, with his full quiver on his back and his bow in his hand. The only thing that was missing was the hood and that was so that they could see his face as he put the fear of God into them.

They all watched as Malcolm walked through the door. They could tell just from the way that he walked that he meant serious business this time and were afraid that this was going to be worse than anything that they had seen before.

Malcolm walked to the center of the room and slapped Oliver a couple of times on the face to see if he was starting to come to yet. When Oliver didn't respond he walked over to Felicity and checked her restraints to be sure that she would not be able to get free once he started. Once he was satisfied that she was not going anywhere he walked over to talk to Diggle.

"How are you feeling Mr. Diggle?" Malcolm asked with a sneer.

"Just peachy!" Diggle spat back at him.

Malcolm again turned to Oliver, who was still passed out and, reaching for his side, pulled the whip out and let it fully extend in full view of everyone. He wanted them to see what was coming and not be able to do anything about it.

Felicity watched as Malcolm pulled the whip out. She was afraid that he was going to use it on her, but even more afraid that he was going to use it on Oliver who was still unconscious. She watched in horror as Malcolm brought the whip back and landed a solid blow on Oliver's back.

"NO! Malcolm please don't!" Felicity cried out.

"Don't worry Miss. Smoak, your turn is coming." Malcolm snarled back at her.

They all watched in horror as Malcolm landed three more lashes on Oliver's back before taking a break for a breath.

Oliver felt the sting of two lashes before he completely came to after the curare. Not only did he have a killer headache, but now he was being whipped too. He was able to hold in his cries of pain though, somehow. Again he didn't want Malcolm to think that he had been broken. After the last lash Oliver opened his eyes and looked up. The first thing he saw being Felicity chained to the wall in front of him.

"Well, well, well. It's about time you joined the land of the living again Oliver. Would you like to say hello to Miss. Smoak before she and I have some fun?" Malcolm laughed from beside him.

"What have you done to her Malcolm?" Oliver spat at him, the rage clearly evident on his face. He could not believe that Malcolm had  _actually_  pulled Felicity out and was going to harm her.  _Malcolm is going to pay for this if it is the last thing that I do!_

"Nothing,  _yet._ " Malcolm replied as he walked over and placed the whip on the table, blood dripping off of it from the lashing that he had already given Oliver.

Felicity had watched, crying as Malcolm whipped Oliver. He only gave him a few lashes but Felicity knew that Oliver had to be in no small amount of pain already and she could see a few drops of blood falling to the floor from the cuts the whip had inflicted on his back. She looked to Malcolm who was walking towards her with something in his hand,  _Is that one of Oliver's arrows?_

Malcolm walked over to Felicity, holding one of Oliver's green arrows in his hand. He was going to show her that working with the Arrow was a dangerous job.

"Miss Smoak, you have been working with Oliver as the Arrow for almost two years now right? Well, did you know how dangerous it is to play with arrows? It is very dangerous Miss. Smoak, especially the green ones seeing as they are so sharp." He slowly drew a line across Felicity's stomach with the arrow that was in his hand drawing a small amount of blood. He smiled a bit when she let out a small cry of pain.

"Helping Walter figure out what that list contained was a bad idea, working with Oliver was a really bad idea, and talking Lance through deactivating my earthquake device was the  _worst_  idea that you have ever come up with. I can't have lowly IT girls messing with my plans now can I?" Malcolm asked as he stepped away from Felicity pulling out his bow and nocking a black arrow. He turned to her and almost without any warning he loosed the arrow towards Felicity and smiled when it embedded itself in the wall just to her right.

Oliver saw Malcolm step back, he saw him nock his arrow and he saw the moment his fingers let go of the bowstring. " **NO!**  Felicity!" Oliver cried as he watched the arrow embed itself into the wall just next to her. Just a little to the left and it would have pierced her side. He struggled with his restraints as he heard a whimper from Felicity. He wished he could get out of these cursed chains and free her.

"You see, when you play with arrows there is always a chance of being hurt. Especially when the Arrow makes enemies such as he has with me. You see, he has tried to stop me multiple times, he has put a wrench in my plans on numerous occasions, he sabotaged my Undertaking and it is  _HIS_  fault that  _my_  son is dead!" Malcolm said as he nocked another arrow. Turning back to Felicity he released another arrow, this time it embedded itself just above her left shoulder.

"Malcolm, Stop!" Oliver cried, still struggling with his restraints. "Leave her alone, please, I'll do anything, take any punishment just don't do this to her. Nothing that happened was her fault it was mine so take out your anger on  _me_!"

"No Oliver, I won't stop. Not until she has received what she deserves." Malcolm answered, nocking another arrow. This one embedded into the wall just above Felicity's head.

Felicity was truly scared. Malcolm had shot three arrows at her so far and had thankfully not hit her yet, but she had a feeling it would happen. She was doing her best to remain calm and quiet, knowing that if she screamed Oliver would struggle more, hurt himself more, and she was more likely to be pierced by an arrow if he did. She looked to him, into his terrified eyes. She tried to let him know that she would be okay, that they would be okay, but she wasn't sure he was seeing clearly enough to see her message.

Malcolm turned back to Felicity with another nocked arrow. Everyone could see the smile on his face as he loosed the arrow, everyone flinched when they saw it hit its mark and everyone was horrified when they heard Felicity's scream of pain followed by Oliver's scream of anger.

Felicity could not help but scream this time. This arrow had embedded itself into her right shoulder and it  _really_ hurt.  _Aw man, now Oliver's really going to lose it!_ She thought as she saw Oliver screaming at Malcolm to stop.

"Malcolm, please, stop! Just hurt me instead but please leave her  _out_  of this!" Oliver pleaded with Malcolm, unable to help the tears in his eyes.

"You really want her pain, just like everyone else's? Fine!" Malcolm replied as he nocked one last arrow quickly sending it flying into Oliver's right shoulder.

Oliver saw the arrow coming towards him and had a split second to prepare for the impact. As the arrow pierced his shoulder he flinched, a small sign of pain on his face, before he looked back to Malcolm with a murderous look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry Oliver. That must hurt." Malcolm said sarcastically as he walked up to Oliver. He quickly grabbed the arrow and yanked it out of Oliver's shoulder. Oliver let out a small hiss of pain as the arrow was pulled from his shoulder.

"Well, I guess the real fun can begin now. You Oliver Queen are the sorriest excuse of a man that I have ever known. Your father would be so disappointed in you if he could see you now. Running around town in a green hood and leather suit. How typically childish." Malcolm taunted Oliver as he walked back over to pick up his whip. Turning back to Oliver he gave him more lashes on his back.

Oliver looked to Felicity, the tears streaming down her face. He knew that more torture was coming at the hands of Malcolm and he looked to her for support, knowing that he could draw strength from her even though she was hurt too. She would always be there for him, at least that was what she kept telling him. He gritted his teeth as he felt the whip eat into his back again. He determined to remain quiet.

Suddenly Malcolm stopped the whipping as a third goon ran into the room.

"What do you want? You are interrupting and I told you  _never_  to interrupt me!" Malcolm yelled at the man.

"I apologize sir, but we have a situation. The Black Canary has been sighted heading our way." The man quickly explained.

"The Canary huh? Maybe we should catch ourselves a little birdie then." Malcolm stated as he walked out of the room followed by the two other goons, leaving Oliver hanging in the middle of the room again.

"The Black Canary?" Lance asked looking to Oliver.

Oliver gave the man a small nod before turning back to Felicity. His back was extremely sore and he didn't know if he would be able to help get them out of there. If Sara was coming then so was Roy, but they would need help and he just didn't know if he had the strength to help.

"Oliver, I know that you are in pain right now and you are probably trying to figure out how you are going to get us out of here…" Felicity started.

"Felicity, I don't know if I can. I don't know if I have the strength left to get you to safety. I have failed you all yet again…" Oliver replied.

" **NO**! You have  _not_  and you  _STOP_  telling yourself that. You have  _not_  failed us! You saved Digg from being killed numerous times, specifically by Deadshot. You saved Walter when you rescued him from Malcolm. You saved Laurel form the Dollmaker as well as from many other people. You have saved Detective Lance from so many different situation. You were there for your Mom on numerous occasions. You saved the Glades from complete destruction. You have saved me from not only from getting my head blown off by Dodger but from the Count as well. I know that you promised to try not to kill in honor of Tommy. Well, I'm telling you now, just as I did with the Count, that sometimes the  _only_ thing you can do is to kill the bad guy. In this case it's either kill him or he will kill us. Oliver, you can do this! I know you're tired but there have been so many times where you have worked your way out of something even when you were exhausted, just like the last time Malcolm held you hostage. You can do this! You can kill him! I  _ **believe**_  in you!" Felicity said, almost gasping for breath by the end of her ramble. She needed Oliver to realize that he  _could_  get them out of this.

Oliver almost cried as he listened to Felicity's words. She believed in him. He couldn't let her down. As he thought about her words about the last time Malcolm held him he realized what he had to do. He looked at her and smiled, nodding his head, before he looked up and prepared to do what needed to be done to free them. After all – Felicity believed in him and he  _couldn't_ let her down.


	18. Escape

_**Mixed POV** _

Diggle knew that after Felicity's words Oliver would find a way out of there if it killed him. He knew Oliver would do  _anything_  to keep her safe, especially after she said the words  _I believe in you!_  Diggle just hoped that whatever Oliver was planning wouldn't hurt him too bad.

Everyone watched in shock as Oliver twisted around, causing his chains to twist as well, before reaching up and grabbing on to them. Oliver then pulled his feet over his head, with a small grunt, so he was now hanging inverted from the chains. He then proceeded to pull himself up until he was more than six feet off the ground. He paused for just a moment, taking a deep breath to prepare himself, before letting go. This caused him to drop, putting just enough pressure on the twisted chains, for them to break and drop to the floor.  _ **  
**_

"Ahhh." Oliver cried as he hit the ground on his wounded side.

"OLIVER!" Everyone cried at the same time when they saw him hit the floor.

"So  _that's_  how he did it!" Diggle stated, in awe at his friend. He had just discovered how Oliver had gotten himself out of the same situation the last time that Malcolm had captured him. He was sure that Oliver had to be in no small amount pain right now not only from falling on his injured back and shoulder, but Digg was pretty sure he heard Oliver's left shoulder dislocate again when his friend dropped to the floor.

"Oliver, man, you alright?" Diggle asked, concern clear in his voice.

"Fine." Oliver replied, unable to keep the pain out of his voice.

Moira watched as her son rolled over with a look of pain on his face. She could not believe what she had just watched him do. She knew that he had more abilities than she even knew about but she had never imagined that he could do this, that he would do this. As she saw the cuts on his back from the whip she could not keep the tears from running down her face.

Felicity was deeply relieved. Oliver had found a way out of his restraints and even though he was in pain she knew that he would get them out of there. She watched as he pulled himself to his feet slowly and a bit unsteadily to start with. He looked to her and she gave him an encouraging smile despite the pain from the arrow in her shoulder. He took a step towards her before turning to the door.

Oliver was in a hell of a lot of pain. His back was burning from the cuts from the whip, the stitches in his side were coming out causing the bullet wound to hurt even more, there were ribs that were either cracked or bruised, the wound in his shoulder was hurting pretty bad - not to mention the fact that the drop had dislocated his shoulder yet again. He simply hoped he was able to get out of here without passing out. Thankfully though, he had enough adrenaline right now to keep him going.

Oliver was headed over to Felicity when he heard the footsteps in the hallway. He knew that it wasn't Malcolm because the man's boots didn't make the right sound on the floor, he just hoped that the man had the key to the cells. He walked over and stood by the door waiting for the man to come through.

Lance had watched as Oliver freed himself from his chains. He knew that Oliver had to really be hurting right now due to all of the injuries that he had sustained. He was still awestruck that Oliver had endured so much with hardly a sound. In fact, the most that he had heard from Oliver was just now when he dropped to the floor. Oliver had been silent the whole time and Lance simply could not believe that the young man had been able to endure so much so silently.

Laurel watched, concerned for Oliver, as another man walked into the room. He walked to the center of the room where Oliver had been chained up, walking right past Oliver at the door. She watched, somewhat surprised, as Oliver came up behind the man and kicked him in the back of the knee causing him to drop to his knees. Oliver then put him in a sleeper hold causing the man to pass out, before he searched the man like he was looking for something specific.

Oliver could not help the smile that spread across his face as he found the keys. He could finally get his family and friends out of this place. He quickly walked over to the door pushing it closed so that someone could not simply walk right in as he was trying to free everyone. He then rushed over to Felicity.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked, the concern clear on his face and in his voice, as he placed a hand to her cheek.

"I'm fine Oliver. Come on, let's get out of here!" Felicity replied, turning into his hand.

"This is going to hurt but I need to at least break this arrow so that it's not sticking out, okay?" Oliver told her, concerned because he knew he was about to hurt her but knowing it was a necessity.

"Go ahead." Felicity replied as she turned her head and took a couple of deep breaths.

Oliver reached to the arrow embedded in her shoulder and without further warning he snapped the end off. He flinched at her cry of pain. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Felicity. "I'm sorry!" He told her as he held her face in his hands.

"It's okay Oliver. Let's get out of here and go home." Felicity replied, doing her best to give Oliver a smile.

Oliver then proceeded to release her from her restraints, holding her close as soon as she was free for just a moment, before proceeding to unlock everyone else's cells. He started with Lance and Laurel since they were the closest.

"Thank you Oliver." Lance said with sincere gratitude.

"Of course Detective." Oliver said with a smile. He then went to let Diggle out of his cell.

"How's the shoulder?" Digg asked, knowing the answer.

"Fine." Oliver replied.

"Yeah, we will see about that in a second. Let's get your Mom and Walter free then I'll reset it for you." Diggle stated, leaving no room for argument from his partner, as he grabbed the key from Oliver and went to free Moira and Walter.

As soon as Moira was free she went to Oliver and put her hands on either side of his face, looking in his eyes as she needed to see for herself that he really was there and that he was okay.

"My beautiful boy!" Moira said with tears on her face. "I Love You!"

"I love you too Mom. We need to go." Oliver stated, emotion evident in his voice.

"Not yet Oliver." Diggle stated walking up behind the younger man. "Let me fix that shoulder again first. You'll need that arm."

Oliver shook his head knowing that Digg was right. It wasn't going to keep it from hurting but it would allow him to at least use the arm for now.

Walter watched as Oliver planted his feet to brace himself for what was coming. Diggle then placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. Walter knew what was about to happen because he had watched the last time that Diggle had relocated Oliver's shoulder. Oliver let out a small, almost inaudible, grunt of pain as Diggle once again pulled his shoulder at just the right angle to put it back into place.

Diggle kept a hand on Oliver's shoulder for just a moment after he had relocated it, allowing the younger man to catch his breath and compose himself before having to face everyone. He knew that Oliver did not like to look weak, especially in front of present company, but he also knew that the adrenaline was the only thing keeping Oliver standing at this point. He simply wanted to make sure that Oliver was good to go before he let go.

Oliver looked to Diggle and nodded his thanks for the help before turning to the group gathered around them.

"Help is on the way and will be here shortly if they are not already. We need to head towards the front of the building to meet up with them. I'll take lead and Digg will bring up the rear. Stay close and stay quiet." Oliver gave out the orders as he looked to each person to be sure that they understood the plan.

"Why do you have to take the lead when you are clearly injured?" Laurel asked, not believing that Oliver really could protect them when he was so injured.

"Listen Laurel, Oliver is the most capable of taking the lead right now. You obviously have not seen him during a real battle because if you had you would know that even injured he is completely capable of beating the  _crap_  out of anyone. So don't you stand here thinking that you know everything when in all reality you know  _nothing!_ " Felicity said as she got up in the brunette's face. She was so sick of Laurel not believing in Oliver when clearly he was  _more_  than capable of taking care of them.  _ **  
**_

"Felicity" Oliver said softly, with a smile on his face, as he placed a hand carefully on her shoulder. "It's okay. Come on, let's get out of here."

Diggle knew that Felicity's shoulder would be causing her quite a lot of pain so he went to Oliver's cell and grabbed his jacket before walking up to her. He carefully helped her use the jacket as a sling to help immobilize her arm in order to help keep it from hurting her further. He then turned to Lance and asked, "Can you give me a hand? We need to get this guy locked up so he can't get out to help when he comes to."

Lance had watched as Team Arrow worked together to take care of the most immediate injures and prepare for another battle. He knew that a unit always worked well together but this team, Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle, seemed to have a better connection that any unit he had ever observed. No wonder Team Arrow was such a force to be reckoned with.

After Diggle and Lance locked up the man into one of the cells they all went over to the door and lined up behind Oliver. Lance made sure to place himself near Felicity in case the blonde needed help at all. He knew her injury would make it tough going and the blood loss would not be helping either.

Oliver looked behind him to be sure that everyone was ready to go and noticed that Diggle had taken care of Felicity's shoulder. He looked to his partner and gave him a look of gratitude which Diggle returned with a small nod. Turning to the door he slowly eased it open to be sure the hallway was empty. After being sure that the coast was clear he stepped out into the hallway motioning for the group to follow him out.

* * *

Sara and Roy came speeding up to the front of the warehouse ready for battle. She knew that Malcolm would have plenty of men ready to meet them and simply hoped that they could find everyone quickly.

Sara sent Roy around the building to the one window that they had found in the building with strict orders to find everyone and get them out as quickly as possible. She was going in the front to cause a distraction and to hopefully find Malcolm.

As Roy rounded the side of the building he hoped that Sara wouldn't get into too much trouble until after he found Oliver and they could help. He slid to a stop at the window and looked quickly inside. He saw a group of people in the hallway and they were prepared for a fight.

Diggle turned suddenly as he heard someone drop to the ground behind him. He was ready to knock the guy out when he saw the red hoodie and let out a sigh of relief. "Roy, man, I've never been so happy to see you in my life!" Diggle exclaimed, drawing the attention of everyone.

"Roy, where's Sara?" Oliver asked, knowing that she would be here somewhere.

"She went in the front to cause a distraction so I could get you guys out, but seems like you've already handled some of that." Roy replied as he walked past the group to Oliver in the front.  _What happened? Malcolm really did a job on him!_  Roy thought noting the various injuries that Oliver had.

"Come on, let's keep moving. Roy, you're with me." Oliver replied, noticing the look on Roy's face as he assessed Oliver's injuries.

The group started moving again slowly and silently down the hallway. Surprisingly there were no sounds of battle reaching them yet and Oliver was a bit worried about what was waiting at the end of the hallway.

Sara had come through the front door and noticed an office to the right. She quickly went in and noticed the TV's that were mounted on the wall next to a large desk that had security camera feeds running live on it. She ran over and quickly saw that Oliver was leading the group down a hallway and that Roy had found them. She then turned and noticed Oliver's bow and nearly empty quiver sitting on the bench by the door. She quickly ran over and grabbed both before heading out knowing that he would want them back. She came to two doors in the hallway, choosing the one directly in front of her because she heard sounds on the other side, she prepared her bo staff, ready to face whoever was on the other side.

Oliver grabbed the handle of the door at the other end of the hallway and slowly eased it open thoroughly expecting to meet more guards on the other side. What he was not prepared for was Sara standing there ready to attack.

"Sara!" Oliver said, relief evident in his voice.

"Ollie! Is everyone okay?" Sara asked, concern just as evident in her voice.

"We're fine sweetheart." Lance replied, grateful that they had some help here.

"Dad, Laurel." Sara cried, relieved that her family was okay. Turning to Oliver she held out his bow and his full quiver. "I found the bow and an almost empty quiver in Malcolm's office. Thought you might want them back."

"Thank You." Oliver replied as he carefully strapped on his quiver and grabbed his bow. Sara didn't miss the slight look of pain that crossed his face as he strapped on the quiver and was curious what Malcolm had done to him. She could easily see the injuries to his chest and torso but wondered what had been done to his back to cause that look. _ **  
**_

"Let's get out of here." Sara said as she turned to go back out the front door that she had just come through. As she reached for the handle she heard a click as the door locked in front of her and then turned around suddenly as the door that they had just walked through slammed shut and they heard that door lock as well. Turning she looked to Oliver who was right behind her.

"Let's try this door." Oliver said as he turned to the door to his right. "We are too close to try explosives."

The door opened without hesitation and Oliver and Sara slowly walked through, ready for anything. They stepped into another large, open room in the middle of the warehouse and saw Malcolm standing in the middle of the room with about twenty men standing around him.

"So this is how you want to end it?" Malcolm asked with a snarl.

Oliver nocked an arrow as he glared at Malcolm. "There is no choice to make." He stated quietly so only Sara, Diggle, and Felicity could hear him. They knew what that statement meant.

Oliver was going to defeat Malcolm – he was going to  _kill_  him!


	19. The Battle

_**Mixed POV's** _

Diggle and Sara had heard Oliver's comment and knew that they were taking no prisoners.  _That's what Malcolm gets for hurting Felicity. I guess he never learned rule number one: Never get, or even try to get, between Oliver and Felicity._  Diggle thought, trying to hold in his laughter.

As they walked in the room Felicity knew that things were about to get tricky. They were outnumbered and half of their Team was injured. She looked to Oliver who looked angry and yet a bit hesitant. And she knew that he would be struggling with having to kill Tommy's father. Normally she wouldn't say much in a case like this but she knew that she needed to give him some encouragement. "Oliver, remember rule number twelve. Only kill when there is no choice, when a team member is in danger there is  _no_  choice. Your whole team is here!"

Roy almost laughed out loud. He remembered his list of rules and could tell just by looking that Malcolm had broken rule number one. He grinned as he directed Walter, Moira, Laurel, and Felicity back against the wall. He knew Lance would be capable of holding off some of the attackers but the others would not be able to do so.

Lance watched Roy as he directed the others against the wall. Obviously this young man had grown up some from the street kid he used to arrest because now he was putting himself between the good guys and the bad guys to keep the innocent safe. Lance walked closer to them and nodded to Roy to indicate that he would help protect them. He then turned to watch as the rest of Team Arrow prepared for battle.

Oliver heard the group behind him shifting and after a quick glance noticed that Roy and Lance were standing guard in front of the rest. This would now allow Sara, Diggle, and he to be able to focus on the group in front of them. Wordlessly they spread out, Sara to the right, Digg to the left, and Oliver down the middle with bow at the ready, prepared for the fight about to start.

Malcolm smiled as he watched the group in front of him shift, obviously preparing to attack. He took a few steps back before looking to his men and yelling, "Attack!"

In a split second all hell broke loose. Malcolm's men and Team Arrow ran towards each other at full speed colliding with a roar. Sara and Diggle were able to move quickly through the men they were fighting because they knew that speed and agility were more important than brute strength, a lesson Malcolm's men apparently had never learned.

Oliver made his way up the middle of the room with a single goal in mind – Malcolm. He was able to take care of a few of Malcolm's men on the way with arrows and knocked one out with a well-placed punch. As he got closer to Malcolm he had one thing in mind – payback.

Lance watched as the last of Malcolm's men fell. Team Arrow took care of twenty plus men in a matter of minutes without ever saying a word to each other. It never ceased to amaze him how well this Team worked together, he had never seen anything like it. He watched as Oliver and Malcolm squared off pacing around each other, sizing each other up, as Sara and Diggle came up on either side, ready to help if needed and taking care of the remaining men that had not been killed yet.

Suddenly Malcolm and Oliver collided with a roar, both using their bows as weapons as well as throwing punches. Lance watched as the men exchanged numerous punches and kicks, surprised when Malcolm hit Oliver in his injured side and Oliver didn't even make a sound much less slow down. It seemed like they had been fighting forever when he noticed Malcolm pull an arrow from his quiver and jab in into Oliver's thigh. This time he heard a small cry of pain from the young man, he must have not been expecting that to happen, right before he pulled it from his own leg. At that moment Sara and Diggle joined the fight. Lance watched as the speed and intensity of the fight increased. They were all throwing punches and kicks almost faster than he could keep up with. After a few moments it seemed the Team was finally gaining the upper hand as he noticed that Oliver had Malcolm in a choke hold. He was surprised as he heard what Oliver said.

"Don't mess with my Team!" Oliver said as he held Malcolm in a chokehold, preparing to snap Malcolm's neck. "This is for Felicity!"

Felicity watched as Oliver snapped Malcolm's next effectively ending the fight. As he dropped Malcolm to the ground he stood to look at Felicity. She gave him a small smile, grateful that this whole ordeal was finally over. If she never saw the inside of a prison again it would be too soon for her.

Sara couldn't help her smile when she heard Oliver's words. She knew he was pissed about Felicity being there, but hadn't realized that he planned on killing Malcolm for her. She should have known though, especially after the Count. As Oliver slowly walked back towards the group she reached down to ensure that Malcolm really was dead this time, especially after the story that she had heard about the Undertaking. She didn't want him coming back to haunt them again.

Oliver walked slowly back to the group, heading straight for Felicity. He gave her a small smile as she walked towards him as well.

"It's over Felicity. He will never hurt you again!" Oliver stated, the emotion clear in his voice, as he pulled her into a tight hug never wanting to let her go.

Moira could not help the small smile that appeared when she saw her son pulling Felicity close. She may not know just how close they were but she knew that they meant a lot to each other. It was obvious from their expressions right now. She turned into Walter's embrace as he came up beside her, thankful for his presence.

"Ollie, we need to get out of here. I have a van parked about a block from here." Sara stated, knowing that the SCPD were probably on there before long.

"I'll go get the van and pull it up front while you guys get ready to leave." Roy stated seconds before running out the door.

"Let's meet him out front." Oliver stated as he turned towards the door to head out, making sure he was holding Felicity's hand the whole time.

As they walked out the door and into the hallway Felicity caught sight of the security cameras in the office. "Give me just a second Oliver. I need to make sure there is no video of us. We can't have the SCPD finding out who the Arrow is." She stated as she walked towards the security system. It only took her a minute to wipe the hard drive before she turned to Oliver. "Would you mind making that explode just for good measure?"

"My pleasure. Everyone out please." Oliver replied with a smirk. He then took out an explosive arrow and sent in straight into the security system effectively blowing everything to bits. He then turned to Felicity, took her hand in his, and started towards the front door.

Roy pulled up in the van just as everyone got outside. He ran to the back and opened the door to help everyone load up before running back to the front and heading away from the warehouse.

Laurel watched as everyone piled in the van behind her. She had stepped in first with her Dad right behind her, followed by Walter, Moira, Diggle, Felicity, and lastly Oliver. Sara ran to the front seat as Roy pulled away from the warehouse. She finally breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that this nightmare was over.

"Where to guys?" Roy asked from the driver's seat.

"To the hospital obviously. Didn't you notice that people are injured?" Laurel responded, surprised that the kid had even asked.

"Oliver!" Felicity cried out. She had been sitting right next to Oliver since they climbed in and suddenly he fell over into her lap unconscious.

"Oliver, man, are you okay?" Diggle asked, clearly worried, as he maneuvered next to Felicity. They both worked to lay Oliver down in the back of the van. "His adrenaline must have finally wore off. He's passed out from all of his injuries and the blood loss. What are we closest to?" He asked turning to the front of the van.

"The lair is only a couple of blocks from here and all the medical supplies are ready to go." Sara replied as she turned in her seat.

"Then take us to the lair Roy." Felicity replied, clearly impatient as she pulled Oliver's head into her lap.

Roy sped up as he headed straight for Verdant. He wanted to make sure to get to the lair in time to be able to help Oliver. He may not have always liked the man, but he was Thea's brother and had taught him a lot. He couldn't let anything happen to him.

The van slid to a stop at the back entrance to Verdant. Sara quickly jumped out and ran to put in the code to the basement door as Roy ran to the back of the van and opened the door. He and Diggle carefully lifted Oliver out of the van and headed inside.

"You guys might as well join us." Felicity said as the rest of the group piled out of the van.

"At Ollie's club. Why did we come here instead of the hospital?" Laurel replied agitatedly.

"Laurel, it doesn't matter honey. Let's get inside." Lance stated as he placed a hand on Laurel's arm pulling her towards the door.

Felicity let everyone through the side door and locked it behind them. Breathing a sigh of relief she turned to the rest of the group and motioned for them to follow her down the flight of stairs. As they reached the bottom everyone looked around clearly surprised at what was here.

"Welcome to the Arrowcave!"  _ **  
**_

* * *

**AN: I would love to know if you all are still enjoying the story!  Please leave me a review and let me know :)**


	20. The Showdown

_**Mixed POV** _

Roy and Diggle quickly brought Oliver down into the lair and headed straight for the medical bay where Sara was standing waiting. They had obviously prepared for the worst as  _all_  the supplies were neatly laid out and ready for use.

"How are we going to do this guys? He has injuries everywhere." Roy asked as they neared the medical table.

"We need to take care of his back first so that we can lay him down. Here, let's sit him on the table and I'll support him. Sara you take care of his back, be careful though, Malcolm shredded it with a whip so the quiver is probably not going to come off easy. Roy, you get a couple of sheets and be ready to lay them down so that his back isn't touching the cold steel." Digg gave out the orders quickly knowing that they had to move fast.

Sara was worried for Oliver. She had been able to tell that he was seriously injured and hadn't missed the look of pain that had crossed his face when he strapped the quiver on. But she didn't realize the extent of the damage to his back until she started to remove the quiver. It was slow going, she had to be extremely careful when removing the quiver and felt bad for tearing up more of his back in the process. When she finally was able to get it off she had to stop for a second to take a deep breath. She could see where the lashes from the whip had cut open his back in several places and, as well as that, she could see the places where he had been burned from being electrocuted,  _probably a generator again_. She thought as she remembered what he looked like after he came back from the Amazo with Slade.

Sara quickly got to work cleaning and stitching up his back knowing that he had more injuries that they had to get to as well. She knew that Oliver had been through a lot before and that he would be fine, however, she didn't want him to be in more pain than necessary when she could do something about it.

_**Lance POV** _

Lance could not believe his eyes as he reached the last step. He was finally in the Arrows 'secret lair'.  _Wait a minute, didn't I search down here once? There definitely wasn't a set up like this_ then.  _I wonder when he came down here._  Lance thought, clearly remembering searching the whole place when he was investigating Vertigo the second time.

As Lance walked towards the center of the room he could not help but be in awe of what was in the lair. He waked past racks of arrows in various stages of completion. He saw the case that most likely housed Oliver's leather suit, the case that held the bow, the massive bank of computers in the middle of the room, the training area on the other side of the lair but what finally drew his attention was the medical area. Sara, Roy and Diggle were sitting Oliver on a steel table surrounded by a huge assortment of medical supplies.  _No wonder they wanted to come here. They have everything that they need_. He thought as he walked towards them, careful to stay out of the way but close enough that he could see what was going on.

_**Moira's POV** _

Moira could not believe her eyes as she descended the stairs. She knew her son had been putting a lot of time in out here but she didn't realize that his base of operations was below the club.  _It does make perfect sense now. He can easily come out here for hours and people would think he is simply in the club. I wonder if Thea knows._  Moira suddenly let out a gasp and her eyes got wide. "Has anyone told Thea that we are okay? That we are safe?"

"I was going to go talk to her as soon as we get Oliver situated." Roy responded with a quick glance at Moira.

"Why don't you let me go talk to her, that way you both are available here if you are needed." Walter replied. Moira could tell that he was concerned for Thea but also knew that Roy might very well be needed here and that she was in no shape right now to talk to her daughter.

"Thank you Walter." Moira replied placing a hand on his arm. She was incredibly grateful for this man and wanted to make sure that he always knew it from now on.

"Walter, there are lockers over in the back corner. You can grab one of my shirts to change in to." Diggle called from where he was helping with Oliver.

"Thank you." Walter replied before heading to the lockers then to talk to Thea.

Moira made her way over to where Lance was standing. She wanted to be able to see that her son was going to be okay, that he was going to make it. She was really worried about him after all that he had gone through and she had started crying when she saw him pass out in the van. She simply hoped that Sara and Diggle knew enough to save her son's life – again.

_**Mixed POV** _

Laurel could not believe her eyes. Not only was Ollie the Arrow but he had a secret lair, under a club that she went to  _regularly_ , filled with arrows, and workbenches, and computers, and what looked like an area for training in the back. She didn't realize that Oliver was smart enough to put together a place like this.

Laurel slowly made her way around the lair, touching everything just to be sure it was real. As she walked towards the bank of computers she noticed Felicity was standing there staring off to the side. As she turned to look she was horrified. They were standing behind the medical area and Oliver was sitting on a steel table with his back to them. When she noticed the state that his back was in she lost it.

"How can you guys just sit down here in this crappy basement and expect to be able to take care of him when he is hurt like  _that_. Obviously that is a job for a  _doctor_ , which clearly none of you are, and yet you insist on bringing him here, to this hole in the ground, thinking you can miraculously cure him." Laurel started yelling at the group.

Diggle looked over Oliver's shoulder towards Laurel and saw the look on Felicity's face as she heard Laurel's words. He couldn't help the smirk on his face, and noticed Sara's and Roy's as well, as Felicity turned to Laurel.  _Rule number one Laurel, always remember rule number one!_  Diggle thought as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him.

" _ **How dare you!"**_ Felicity said as she turned to the blond with a murderous look on her face. She took a couple of steps towards Laurel as she got up in the brunette's face, raising her voice. "You come down into  _our_ lair and tell us what is best for  _our_  Team when you clearly have  _no_  idea what you are talking about. Have you  _ever_  been around when one of them came back injured?  _NO!_  Have you ever seen them patch each other up after one of them got shot, or stabbed, or injected with something on a mission?  _NO!_  Did you know that we have saved Oliver's life more than a doctor ever has? I didn't think so. Besides, he's still wearing his green leather pants. What do you think a doctor would do if we took him in there like that? They would ask questions, questions that we don't like to have to answer like who, what, why, and where. These are all questions that we  _obviously_ want to avoid in order to keep Oliver's secret. Why did we bring him here? Because there  _was_  no choice to make! Because we know  _exactly_  what we are doing and are more than capable of taking care of him. Because Oliver would be fifty shades of pissed if he woke up in a hospital instead of here and would probably walk out. So, _don't you dare_  tell us what we  _should_ be doing when you have  _no_ idea!" Felicity ended her rampage out of breath. She could not believe the nerve of this woman, coming into  _their_  lair, their  _home_  and telling them that they were wrong.

Everyone looked at the women with wide eyes. They could not believe that Felicity had just yelled at Laurel like that. No one, well no one except the Team, had seen that coming and were all taken completely by surprise.

"Look  _blondie_." Laurel replied, never one to back down first. "I know that you think you know everything, including what is best for Oliver but  _clearly_  you can't think straight when it comes to him. All you want is to keep him close and not let anyone else touch your  _precious_  Oliver. Don't think I don't see the way that you look at him. You clearly think you are in love with him and are hoping that he returns the feelings. Well, let me tell you something, you are so not his type. He doesn't go for the nerdy IT tech who wants to sleep her way to the top. So you should just give up and go back…. "

Suddenly, without warning, Felicity punched Laurel so hard in the face that it split her lip.  _ **  
**_

"OW!" Felicity cried, not only did her hand hurt but now her shoulder did too. She was clearly right handed, and had used that hand to punch stupid Laurel, but she temporarily forgot the arrow in her shoulder and now it really, really hurt.

Moira could not believe what had just happened. She not only saw little Felicity Smoak stand up to Laurel but also watched her punch the brunette in the face in defense of her son. She watched as Felicity turned, tears in her eyes, back to where Oliver was now being laid down on the table.

"Felicity." Moira said quietly as she walked up to the blonde. "Why don't we come over here and sit down, I'm sure your shoulder hurts pretty badly. Let's come over here and Sara or Diggle can patch you up as soon as they have a minute, okay."

"Okay." Felicity replied quietly as Moira pulled her computer chair over towards the medical area. She sat down carefully in the chair near Oliver but out of the way so that the rest of the Team could still patch him up. She was still shocked that she had  _actually_  punched Laurel.

Laurel could not believe that Felicity had the nerve to talk to her like that, much less punch her. She sat down in the extra desk chair and looked up to see Roy heading her way.

"Here you go, thought this might help with the lip." Roy stated as he handed her an ice pack. "For your safety I would seriously consider reading and following our Team rules. The main one being that you never get between her and Oliver.  _Really_  bad idea." He smiled to himself as he walked away.  _ **  
**_

Sara and Diggle had finally gotten Oliver's back patched up enough that they could move on to other things. They had been slightly distracted by the other things happening in the lair but now were fully focused on Oliver's injuries. Diggle started the blood transfusion to try and help replace the blood that Oliver had already lost as Sara hooked up the monitors so they could keep an eye on his vitals more easily.

As soon as Diggle was done with the IV he turned to Roy who was heading back their direction. "Roy. Hey, can you toss me the cuffs on the table over there."

"Sure, here you go." Roy replied as he tossed one of the pairs of handcuffs that they kept on hand specifically for these instances.

Diggle made quick work of patching up Oliver's wrist where the restraints had rubbed the raw before cuffing his right arm to the table.

"What's that for?" Lance asked curiously.

"Oliver isn't always aware of his surrounding when he first wakes up. When someone has seen battle they tend to wake up thinking they are still in the battle zone until they wake up enough to realize their surroundings. If Oliver wakes up and thinks he is still being held by Malcolm, or on the Island, then he is likely to unintentionally hurt someone. Oliver has ordered us to always cuff him to the table until he is completely aware." Diggle answered, he hated giving information like this away without his friend's consent but he needed them to know what could happen so that they were prepared. "Whenever he starts to wake up, no matter what happens, you guys need to stay back until we are sure he is completely awake. We don't want him to hurt any of you."  _ **  
**_

Suddenly everyone's attention was brought to Oliver on the table. They had all been listening to the monitors telling them that he was alive and okay when suddenly the tone changed. Diggle, Sara, and Felicity burst into action.

"He's crashed! Grab the defibrillator!" 


	21. Aspirins

_**Mixed POV** _

Moira watched in horror as Oliver's heart stopped beating. His Team rushed around, grabbing the crash cart that was sitting nearby and proceeded to try to shock Oliver's heart, trying to get it beating again. It took three attempts before she heard the beep on the monitor again. She let go of the breath that she didn't realize she was holding.  _I wonder how many times they have had to do that. It seemed like they knew exactly what they were doing._

Felicity could not keep in the cry of relief as Oliver's heart started beating again. "You have  _got_  to stop doing this to us Oliver." She said quietly to the sleeping man as she sat down in her chair again. Her shoulder was hurting more and more the longer she sat here.

Diggle could see that Felicity was in quite a lot of pain from her shoulder. The punch to Laurel hadn't helped either. He walked over to where the medicine was kept and, having selected something, he carried a small bottle over to Felicity. He handed her a couple of pills and a bottle of water.

"Aspirins." Diggle replied when he saw the look of confusion on her face. "For the shoulder until we can take care of it for you." Felicity smiled at him as she took the pills that he handed her with a small nod of thanks.

Diggle turned back to Sara and Oliver just as she was finishing up with the wrist that had not already been bandaged.

"What all are his injuries John?" Sara asked knowing that Diggle was the best man to give her the list of everything that could be wrong with Oliver.  _ **  
**_

"Well other than the back he has burns on his torso and back from a generator, his left shoulder has been dislocated twice but don't worry about that I've taken care of it, he has several cracked or broken ribs, he took an arrow to his right shoulder, a bullet in his side, as well as some cuts across his chest and torso, not to mention the doses of Vertigo and curare." Diggle listed. His friend and partner had been through a lot the last couple of days.

"Wow, okay. Roy, please grab the herbs from the chest and mix up a pretty good batch of tea for him, once he wakes up he's going to have a killer headache. John you take care of the bullet wound and the shoulder and I'll take the cuts. Once that is done I'll help you tape up the ribs." Sara gave out the commands quickly before turning to get back to work. The Team didn't question anything as they all turned to do their own jobs.

"Roy, go ahead and make two extra cups of tea while you're at it." Diggle told the younger man, knowing that both he and Moira could do with a cup each to help get rid of any lasting effects of the drugs. He then turned back to Oliver and started to redo the stitches in his side from the bullet wound that had come out from him hanging from the chains as well as from the fight. He was impressed with how well Felicity had done the first time. He then moved to Oliver's shoulder where he cleaned and stitched up that wound as well while Sara took care of the cuts on Oliver's chest.  _ **  
**_

Lance looked on as Sara and Diggle worked on Oliver. It seemed like they had done this several times before and again he was in awe of the Team. Words could not describe right now the intense pride he had for his daughter and what she had become. Sure, she was different than when she left but she was better for it. Lance was happy that she had found a home, a family, here with Oliver and his Team.

Roy came back over to the medical area with two steaming cups of tea. "Who gets the extras?" He asked Diggle.

"Mrs. Queen needs one and I get the other. They will help with any lasting effects that you have from the Vertigo." Diggle finished as he turned to Moira, explaining what it was for.

"What is this?" Moira asked as she smelled the tea, it smelled awful.

"It's some herbs Oliver brought from the Island. It helps with anything." Diggle responded as he helped Sara sit Oliver up enough to wrap his ribs. As soon as they were finished they laid him back down carefully before turning to the rest of the group.

"Sorry you guys had to wait on us before getting any medical attention, but Oliver clearly needed it more than anyone. Felicity, you're next." Sara said as she washed her hands before putting on new gloves and pulling out the supplies that she would need to patch up Felicity's shoulder.

"There is a bathroom in the back with a shower and between Oliver, Sara, Felicity, and I we should have enough changes of clothes for everyone. I would suggest everyone cleans up while we keep taking care of injuries. Laurel, you go first so that we can take care of those cuts as soon as we are done here." Diggle stated as he turned to the medical supplies to pull out a sling for Felicity's arm.  _ **  
**_

"Here, I'll show you where to find everything." Roy said as he led Laurel to the back of the lair.

Felicity was extremely happy when they finished patching her shoulder. It didn't hurt as much as it originally did which was probably due to the aspirins that Diggle had given her. As soon as Laurel finished in the bathroom she went to clean herself up with an order from Sara to call her if she needed anything.

Diggle and Sara finished patching everyone up. Laurel only needed a few stitches on a couple of her cuts, Lance just needed his ribs taped up as the rest were just bruises, Walter would get some salve for his burns before they bandaged them up right after he got back from talking to Thea. Moira and Diggle each got some tea to ward off any lasting effects from the Vertigo and the curare and Diggle also received a line of stitches to the cut on his chest. All in all, they all had got off pretty easily in the end as Felicity and Oliver were the only ones with serious injuries.

Once Moira had a chance to clean up she pulled up an extra chair near to Oliver and kept vigil over her son, willing him to wake up. Seeing him lay there, fighting for his life, made her wonder how many times he had been injured, how badly, and how it was that he kept bouncing back so quickly. She watched as Felicity pulled her chair right next to Oliver, placed her hand in his and softly talked to him. She couldn't hear what was being said but clearly the blonde cared for her son. She had seen the signs over and over again and wondered when they would finally realize that they cared for each other.

* * *

 

_**Mixed POV** _

Upstairs Walter walked into the club to look for Thea. He knew that she would be here, she was always here. He had thankfully been able to change into at least a clean shirt and he had noticed a shower downstairs when he was changing so hopefully he would get a shower soon, however, Thea was more important right now.

Walter could tell the minute Thea saw him coming. She almost dropped the bottle that she was holding before running into his arms.

"Walter, you're okay!" Thea said with a sob. "I was so worried that something bad had happened to you! Do you know if they found my Mom and Oliver?"

"Thea, let's go somewhere a bit more quiet so we can talk." Walter said calmly, directing her to the club office. Once inside he continued with his explanation. "Your Mom and Oliver are all fine. So are Lance and Laurel. We were all taken together. Everyone is out and safe. They are all undergoing medical treatment right now but will be heading to the mansion as soon as possible."

"I want to see them!" Thea stated, clearly worried for her family.

"You can't right now sweetheart. Finish up here tonight and I will call you when we are able to leave for the mansion. Okay." Walter stated. He wanted her to know that they were fine, but didn't need her downstairs right now. Sharing Oliver's secret was not his call and if she saw them now then his cover would be blown.

As Thea was getting ready to argue again Walter saw Roy coming up the stairs. He was thankful that he had backup.

"Thea, what's going on?" Roy asked, doing a very good job of sounding like he had no clue.

"They've been found. Everyone's been found Roy and they won't let me go see Mom and Ollie." Thea cried into her boyfriend's shoulder.

"I'm sure it's just so that they can make sure everyone's okay before they send them home is all. Come on, let's get back to the club. I'm sure Walter will call us as soon as we can meet up with them." Roy said rubbing her back to try and get Thea to calm down.

"Okay, you call me as soon as I can see them!" Thea demanded as she looked at Walter.

"I will, I promise." Walter said, thankful that she had finally let it go. He turned to head back downstairs after Roy and Thea walked away.  _ **  
**_

When Walter got to the bottom of the stairs he smiled. He saw Moira and Felicity sitting next to Oliver, who was thankfully still alive, Diggle and Sara were talking quietly in the corner, and Lance and Laurel were sitting near the computers. Everyone seemed to be getting along, for now anyway.

"Walter, why don't you freshen up in the bathroom back there and then we will take care of your burns." Diggle said, pointing to the bathroom that Walter had seen in the back of the lair. "I laid out a couple sets of clothes, not sure what will fit best."

"Thank you." Walter said as he went to freshen up.

When he returned Diggle tended to the burns from the tazer before they all sat down to a dinner of Big Belly Burger that Sara had brought in while he was cleaning up. They all enjoyed the peace and quiet of a good meal, waiting for Oliver to wake up. 


	22. Questions

_**Mixed POV** _

The lair was quiet as they all sat and ate their dinner. The only sound was from the monitors that were hooked up to Oliver and the faint sounds from the club above. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

"What's on your mind Detective?" Diggle asked, noticing the look on Lance's face that said he was trying to not ask a question.

"How long has his base of operations been down here?" Lace blurted out. He knew it wasn't like this when he searched the club and wanted, no  _needed_ , to know if he had been tricked.

"Since day one." Diggle said, trying to hold in his laughter. He knew that this had been bugging Lance and was surprised that it had taken him this long to ask.

"Then where was everything when I searched down here?" Lance just  _had_  to find out where everything had gone.

"A friend of ours took care of everything." Diggle replied, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice. He may not have always agreed with how Oliver and Tommy handled things but he still felt bad that Tommy was gone.

"Who?" Lance asked, not willing to rest until he knew. "Wait a minute! Tommy Merlyn was the one who was managing the club, he was the one that told us it was storage. Tommy knew didn't he?"

Laurel looked up from her food at the mention of Tommy. What did her former boyfriend have to do with anything Arrow related?  _He didn't even know. Did he?_   _ **  
**_

"Did Tommy know?" Laurel asked Diggle pointedly. She was determined to know. "He did, didn't he? Why did he never tell me? How long did he know? Why would Oliver tell Tommy and not tell me?"

"Yes, Tommy knew. As for the rest, not my place to answer." Diggle replied making it clear that there was to be no further discussion on the matter.

"Hey, I should probably call in to the station and let them know I'm okay. Can I borrow a phone?" Lance asked, trying to change the subject.

"Here Dad, borrow mine." Sara replied as she handed over her cell phone.

"Thanks sweetheart." Lance said, thankful yet again that both his girls were safe. He turned and walked to the corner of the lair before making his phone call.

"How did you get to be involved in this Felicity?" Walter asked. He remembered giving Oliver her name when he asked for some IT help but he had not realized how involved she was in all of this.

"Oliver came to me with a few IT issues while I was still in the IT Department at QC. I was able to help him find Deadshot the first time, then I helped him find Count Vertigo, and I also helped him with intel on BlackHawk Security. I officially became a part of the Team though after Oliver confronted Moira at QC." Felicity stated. She knew that her comments would bring on more questions, but right now she was tired and hurting so instead of sticking around to talk she went over to her computers and started sifting through news feeds.

Moira could tell that Felicity was tired and decided to leave her questions for later. Instead she turned to Roy. "How did you become part of the Team Roy?" She asked him, curious how this Team of individuals had come together to help her son.

"Oliver saved my life. Do you remember when the man who called himself the Savior was taking people from the Glades and killing them on camera, broadcasting it for everyone to see? Oliver saved me from him and I always felt indebted to him for it. It took a lot of convincing but, finally, he brought me on board and now here I am." Roy stated, ignoring the slight chuckle from Diggle as he was telling his story.

"Roy has been a great asset to the Team and is really improving." Diggle stated trying to contain his laughter.

"Hey guys, I gotta run to the precinct real quick. I need to pick something up." Lance stated once he got off of the phone. "I'll be back in a bit." He quickly disappeared out the side door.

"What happened on the Island to cause Oliver to turn into the Arrow?" Laurel asked, clearly expecting a clear answer.

"A lot happened on that Island. It was five years,  _five years_  where  _nothing_  good happened." Felicity replied from over by the computers. Diggle nodded slowly, remembering the time when Oliver had said almost those exact words to them.

"So you know what happened then? How he got his scars? Tell me what happened!" Laurel demanded from the Team.

"Yes, he has told us a bit of what happened. But it's not our story to tell." Diggle stated matter of factly and making it clear that they were not going to answer in any more detail.

"I think we deserve to know." Laurel demanded yet again.

"Listen, he doesn't like to talk about it and there is no reason why we should tell everyone all his secrets without his consent. If he wants you to know then he will tell you. Until then  _back off!_ " Felicity replied clearly becoming agitated.

Suddenly everyone heard the sound of an arrow hitting metal. First once, then twice, before they found the source of the sound.

"Roy Harper, what do you think you are doing?" Felicity demanded from her teammate.  _ **  
**_

"Target practice. Oliver keeps telling me I need to work on my aim." Roy stated as seriously as he could while trying to hide the smile that was threatening to appear.

"If you get within so much as twenty feet of my babies I will hang you from the top of the Salmon Ladder. Do you understand me?" Felicity knew how bad Roy's aim was and she didn't want her babies harmed in his attempt to better his aim.  _ **  
**_

"Yes ma'am." Roy responded playfully.

Diggle could not help but laugh from the table where they were all seated. Roy had single handedly lightened the mood and made everyone laugh at the exchange. Once again he was thankful that Roy was now a part of the Team.

Diggle walked over to the medical table where Oliver was still unconscious to check all of his vital signs, making sure that he was still okay.  _Well, as okay as one could be after what he had gone through._  He looked around and observed everyone in the room. Walter and Moira were talking quietly at the table about the talk Walter had had with Thea. Laurel was fuming in the corner while staring off to the side. Diggle couldn't help the smile as he noticed she was looking at the Rules on the wall. Roy and Felicity were talking quietly about his lack of aim and Sara was heading to the Salmon Ladder to work off some steam. It didn't take long for her to draw the attention of everyone in the room, except Felicity who slowly turned to face him.

Felicity gave Diggle a small smile when she noticed him watching her. She wanted to let him that that she was fine and he didn't need to worry, even though she knew he would be in big brother mode and not be able to help but worry about her. She then looked to Oliver, willing him to wake up.

Suddenly, without any warning, Oliver sat straight up gasping for breath, startling everyone in the room. He looked around, a bit panicked for a moment before his eyes landed on Felicity.

"Oliver!" Felicity cried when she saw him sit up.

"Ollie! Are you okay?" Laurel asked running towards Oliver. Diggle abruptly stepped right in front of her blocking her way to Oliver.

"Don't go any closer until he says it's okay." Diggle reminded her. He may not like her at the moment but he didn't want Oliver to hurt her and then regret it.

"Oliver, you're okay, you're safe. We are in the Lair and everyone is safe." Felicity said as she slowly walked towards him, being careful not to get too close until she knew Oliver was completely awake. She watched as he carefully swung his legs over the side of the table, sitting carefully on the edge.

"Felicity." Oliver stated, extremely relieved that they were all safe. "It's okay. Can you take these off please?" He lifted his arm that was still cuffed to the table.

Felicity smiled, he was back. She turned to the table and picked up the keys before walking over to where he sat. She carefully took the cuffs off him. Suddenly Oliver grabbed her right hand.

"What happened here?" Oliver asked concerned. He didn't remember her hand being injured.

"Well….. um." Felicity stuttered and looked away as her face turned a deep shade of red.

Roy couldn't help but burst out laughing at the comment as he remembered the look on both women's faces as Felicity had punched Laurel.

"She  _punched_  me!" Laurel stated, clearly still upset about the whole incident.

"Why?" Oliver asked, looking at Laurel and noticing her split lip before he looked back to Felicity.

"She was being mean, talking bad about our lair, our  _home_. She said that we should have taken you to the hospital instead of bringing you here. She said that we couldn't know how to take care of you." Felicity said becoming increasingly agitated with the brunette all over again.

Oliver allowed the smile to finally show on his face. He slowly reached up and held Felicity's face in his hands, tilting her head up so she had to look at him.

"So you punched her?" Oliver asked.

Felicity nodded her head to let him know that yes, she had punched Laurel.

"Good job. Did you remember to keep tension in your core?" Oliver asked, allowing the pride that he felt for  _his girl_  to be heard in his voice.

"What?" Felicity asked, completely taken by surprise by not only his comment, but also by the huge grin on his face.

"I'm proud of you for standing up for the Team. Thank you!" Oliver allowed the sincerity and emotion to be heard in his voice.

Moira watched the exchange between Oliver and Felicity. When she saw Oliver lean down and place a gentle kiss on the blonde's lips she couldn't help the smile that spread across her own face. She could tell and he would soon enough as well.

Oliver loved Felicity.


	23. The Kiss

_**Oliver's POV (10 Minutes Earlier)** _

_Oliver was hanging in the middle of the cell block, his arms stretched above his head putting pressure on his injured shoulder and pulling at the stitches in his side. He was just coming to after the curare finished its_ _course through his system. He could still feel a bit of the effects in the fact that his muscles were still stiff. He could feel discomfort in his back and it took him_ _only a moment to realize what had caused it. He felt the whip as it landed on his back, cutting a large gash into it as Malcolm roughly pulled it back again. He clamped down so that the scream that was making its_ _way up would not actually come out._

_When Oliver opened his eyes the first thing he saw was Felicity,_ his  _Felicity, chained to the wall. He watched as Malcolm took one of his arrows and taunted her with it, cut her with it. Malcolm was probably trying to make her fear arrows now and he was afraid it was going to work. He watched, helpless to do anything, as three arrows were fired at her before one finally_ _pierced her. Oliver let out a scream as he watched the life draining from her as Malcolm simply walked away, laughing._

_Oliver had to get to her, had to hold her before she was completely lost to him. He climbed the chains until he was over six feet off the ground before dropping himself to the floor breaking the chains in the process_ _._

Suddenly Oliver was aware of everything that was around him. He could hear his Mom and Walter talking, a bow repeatedly launching arrows into metal, and metal on metal in a steady rhythm, it sounded like the salmon ladder. Lastly he heard the constant beeping of what sounded like a heart monitor. He also took stock of all his injuries, the whip cuts on his back, the burns on his chest and back, the gunshot wound in his side, the arrow wounds in his shoulder and his leg, and the sword cuts on his chest. He knew where each one of them was and he knew that they had all been tended to and even though each wound had been carefully cleaned and stitched as needed they had kept to their agreement and not administered any pain medication, he was in a terrible amount of pain from the injuries. As he lay there he simply listened, trying to identify who all was in the room. He heard Walter, his Mom, Roy was shooting the bow which would leave Sara on the Salmon Ladder and he heard Diggle walking around over by the bank of computers. _ **  
**_

All of a sudden Oliver realized that he didn't hear Felicity. He again remembered her cry of pain as the arrow had lodged itself in her shoulder and he immediately had to find her. He sat up quickly and looked around, needing to find her, needing to see if she was okay. Finally he saw her, sitting next to her computers like she always did. _ **  
**_

"Oliver!" Felicity cried when she saw him awake.

Oliver took a breath of relief. She was alive, and she was here. He saw Laurel coming his way out of the corner of his eye, he saw Diggle step in her way to keep her from coming closer, but above all he saw  _his girl_ Felicity.

"Oliver, you're okay, you're safe. We are in the Lair and everyone is safe." Felicity said as she slowly walked towards him. He suspected that she was being careful not to get too close until she knew for sure that he was fully awake and would not hurt her.

"Felicity." Oliver stated, relieved that everyone was okay and that they were home. "It's okay. Can you take these off please?" He asked as he realized that Diggle had followed his rules and cuffed him to the table.

Oliver watched Felicity, unable to get enough of the fact that she was here, that she was safe. She walked slowly over to him after picking up the keys to the cuffs as she went. He noticed that her shoulder was now bandaged and a sling had been provided for her to help keep her from putting too much strain on her shoulder.

As Felicity carefully uncuffed him Oliver noticed something that he knew had not been there previously. There were some scrapes on her hand that he had never seen before.

"What happened here?" Oliver asked as he gently took her hand in his.

"Well….. um." Felicity stuttered as her face turned a deep shade of red. Oliver knew she had done something that she didn't want to admit to and he was determined to drag it out of her, especially as he heard the laugh from Roy.

"She  _punched_  me!" Laurel stated, obviously furious at Felicity. Oliver was shocked and wondered at the same time what Laurel had done to cause Felicity to decide that she needed punching in the face this time. It was obvious that that was what had happened, especially as Laurel was now sporting a split lip that had not been there previously either.

"Why?" Oliver asked as he looked back to Felicity, slightly amused.

"She was being mean, talking bad about our lair, our  _home_. She said that we should have taken you to the hospital instead of bringing you here. She said that we couldn't know how to take care of you." Felicity said becoming increasingly agitated.

Oliver slowly smiled, finally allowing his amusement to show. He slowly reached up and took her face in his hands, tilting her head up so that he could see her eyes.

"So you punched her?" Oliver asked.

Felicity shook her head yes, looking sheepish.

"Good job. Did you remember to keep tension in your core?" Oliver asked. He was so incredibly proud of her for not only standing up for the Team and for what they do, but also for standing up to Laurel and finally giving her something that she had probably deserved.

"What?" Felicity asked, clearly taken by surprise.

"I'm proud of you for standing up for the Team. Thank you!" Oliver said, allowing her to hear the emotion and gratitude in his voice. Giving in to the growing desire that he had been feeling for so long now, he slowly leaned in and gently kissed her lips. Finally, he allowed the relief, the pride, and the pure joy that he felt at her being alive, being okay, to show through and he gave it full release putting his declaration of love into the kiss.

_**Mixed POV** _

Felicity looked up at Oliver with wide eyes. "You kissed me! I can't believe you just kissed me. I mean you've never kissed me before. I mean why would you? I'm just your girl. Your IT girl, not your  _girl_  girl. You have really soft lips. Did you know that? Like really,  _really_  soft lips. I thought the stubble would be more prickly and in the way but your lips are so soft. How are they that soft? Your stubble is really prickly though too Mister, you know that? Why did you kiss me when I'm your Girl Friday and it is Friday you know not Wednesday you need to get that right because it's important to get that right because I'm your Girl Friday not your girl girl ..."

Diggle couldn't help the laughter as he listened to Felicity ramble on again. As he looked around he saw the others laughing as well, all except Laurel that was.

Oliver couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. He loved it when Felicity when on like this, although he suspected that she had had some help with disabling her brain to mouth filter this time. He gently put a finger to her lips to keep her from embarrassing herself further in front of everyone.

"Did you give Felicity the 'aspirins' again Diggle?" Oliver asked his friend who was clearly enjoying what was going on.

"You could say that." Diggle replied to Oliver, as he held up the bottle of oxycodone that he had given her.

Finally Oliver let out a laugh. It felt great to be alive.

 


	24. Evidence

_**Mixed POV** _

Roy and Sara walked over to join Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle in the medical bay each trying to hold in their laughter.

"I think I just won the bet guys." Roy stated with a smug look on his face drawing the attention of everyone to him.

"What bet?" Oliver asked confused.

"The bet that you would eventually kiss Felicity." Sara supplied the answer with a huge grin on her face as she noticed Roy was slowly moving to stand behind Felicity.  _At least Roy remembers his rule number eight: There is no shame in hiding behind Felicity. Wonder if it will work this time?_ _ **  
**_

"You bet _what_?" Oliver growled in his Arrow voice. He could not believe that his Team had taken bets on whether or not he would kiss Felicity.  _What were they thinking?_

"We knew that eventually you had to give in and kiss her, we were just taking bets on how long it would take. Roy won." Diggle answered, also noting Roy's hiding behind Felicity.  _Kid has really taken to those lessons. At least he knows he's safe there._ _ **  
**_

"Never bet against Felicity. She's _your girl_ , why wouldn't you kiss her?" Roy supplied in answer to the glare Oliver was giving him.

"Roy…" Oliver started to growl when they all heard the back door open and someone descending the stairs.

As Lance descended the stairs all eyes turned to him. He had gone to the precinct to pick up a couple of things that he thought Team Arrow would like to have back. As he came to the last stair he looked around and noticed that Oliver was awake again and his Team was gathered around him.  _They really are just like a family._

As Lance got closer to where the Team was standing he looked closely at Oliver. The man had a small smile on his face and looked to be doing pretty good despite the fact that he had been repeatedly tortured and his heart had stopped beating all within the last few days.

"Good to see you awake again Oliver." Lance said, allowing a small smile to show on his face. "I went by the Precinct and found something that I thought you would like to have back." He set the bag that he was carrying on the table next to the computer as Oliver slowly started to walk his direction.

Oliver slowly made his way over to where Lance was setting his bag down next to Felicity's computers. He was curious as to what the detective had that belonged to them. He watched as Lance pulled his hood and jacket out of the bag and turned to hand them to him. Oliver looked to Lance with gratitude clear on his face.

"Thank you Detective. You have no idea what this hood means to me." Oliver said with emotion evident in his voice.  _ **  
**_

"There were also some blood samples that the police were able to collect that I would suggest magically disappear." Lance said as he looked to Felicity with a smile, knowing that she had the ability to take care of everything in order to cover Oliver's tracks. "They tried to get something from the security system but it had been utterly destroyed in the escape." As he finished Felicity sat down to her computers typing as quickly as she could with her injured shoulder.

"Thank you Detective!" Oliver stated yet again reaching out to shake the man's hand. He wanted the man to know just how much he appreciated this.

"This city needs you Oliver, we need the Arrow, and in order for you to be able to help keep this city safe your identity can't be known -otherwise all the bad guys will know where to find you and those you love. If I can help keep my city safe by keeping one little secret then it's worth it." Lance said as he shook Oliver's hand.

"Done. All traces of Oliver have been removed from the crime scene evidence, again. Oops!" Felicity said with a smile on her face as she turned back to the two men.  _ **  
**_

"So, now what do we do? Obviously Oliver can't be out in public for a while and we can't stay down here the whole time." Roy asked curiously. He would go crazy if he had to stay down here and he knew that Oliver would be worse cooped up in the foundry basement, _even if it is his secret lair._

"Everyone is welcome to join us at the Mansion. There are enough bedrooms if you all would like to stay with us. We can bring any medical supplies that will be needed to continue to treat any injuries." Moira stated, clearly not allowing any room for debate.

"Mom." Oliver started.

"Oliver, you are going to need rest and continued treatment for your injuries. That can be done at the mansion where we have beds. Also, Walter told Thea that we would all be headed there after we were done with our medical treatment and I don't want her to worry any longer than necessary." Moira wanted to be sure that he knew this plan had been thought out, as well as remind him that Thea was worried about them.

"Okay, we can head to the mansion. Diggle, can you pack up some medical supplies in case they are needed." Oliver asked turning to his Team behind him.

"Oliver, you might want this before you go." Roy said handing him the cup of tea that he had brewed earlier. "Diggle said you would want some."

"Thank you Roy." Oliver said as he gave Roy a look of thanks as he recognized the tea.

"Oliver, before we go I should redress your back." Sara stated noting that his wounds were bleeding through the bandages now and wanting to make sure that Oliver was taken care of.

Diggle brought a stool over by the computers so that Oliver didn't have to step away from Felicity and so that she could stay in her computer chair resting, before he turned back to the medical bay and started to load up a couple of bags with supplies.

"We are going to need to keep changing these every few hours until your back stops bleeding." Sara told Oliver as she began removing the bandages that were currently on his back.

As Diggle finished packing the supplies that they would need, he looked over to where Oliver was sitting with his back to the computers. He noticed Felicity was now sitting behind Oliver and watching as Sara redressed his back and Diggle noticed the look on her face. He could see she was right back there in the cell block as Oliver was being whipped. Diggle walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to draw her back to the present.  _ **  
**_

"Felicity." Diggle said softly to her.

"Huh?" Felicity replied, clearly not totally with it still. Between her injury, tiredness, and the meds she was really out of it.

"Felicity, it wasn't your fault." Diggle tried again to bring her out of her trance.

Felicity couldn't tear her eyes away from Oliver's back. She had had to stand there, chained to the wall, as Malcolm continually lashed Oliver's back. She had seen the pain in his eyes as Malcolm laid into his back with the whip. She had been powerless to help him and it was eating at her knowing how much pain he had to be in.

"Felicity!" Oliver stated as he turned around and took her hands in his, kneeling down at the same time so that he could look her in the eyes. He knew that he had to reach her. He couldn't let this experience do to her what the Island had done to him. He needed  _his girl_  back. "Felicity, look at me."

Felicity slowly looked into Oliver's eyes, slowly coming out of her memories as she realized that Oliver was right in front of her.

"Oliver, your back. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Felicity said with tears streaming down her face.

"Felicity, it wasn't your fault. Malcolm would have done this no matter who was there. He was mad at me for so many things; the Undertaking, the fact I tried to kill him multiple times, Tommy. There is nothing you could have done to stop him. In fact, if you had tried I'm afraid that he would have hurt you more. I'm sorry you had to watch and if I could have helped it you would not have been anywhere near. But, I'm going to be fine. Sara's patched me up and all I need is a little time to heal then I'll be back to normal. So please, don't cry!" Oliver said softly to her as he tried to get through to her.

Felicity had heard everything that Oliver had said and knew he was right. He was going to be okay because Sara  _had_  done a good job of patching him up. She just knew that every time she saw those scars she would remember how he got them.

"I'll always be here if you need to talk about it, okay. The whole Team is here, just let us know what you need." Diggle said giving her shoulder a small squeeze to remind her that he was there for her.

Everyone watched the exchange between Oliver and Felicity and they knew that Oliver was right. They knew that Malcolm was evil and would have done all of that to Oliver no matter who was there. They would all still have to work through their own feelings on what had happened, but Oliver was right, he was alive and okay and that was all that mattered.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Oliver asked, trying to break the tension in the lair.

"I have all the supplies that we will need, including Felicity's  _aspirins_." Diggle said as he and Roy picked up the two bags that Diggle had packed.

"I'll go grab the van. Meet you guys up top." Sara said on her way out the door.

"Mom, are you okay?" Oliver asked as he noticed the look of sadness on her face.

"I'll be fine Oliver, I'm just glad you are alright." Moira stated as she touched his face lovingly, making sure that he really was there and alive.

"Let's go home and see Thea." Oliver said with a small smile.

 


	25. The Queen Mansion

_**Mixed POV** _

Everyone rode in an easy silence on the way to the Queen mansion. Roy had called Thea to let them know that they were on their way and she was anxiously awaiting their arrival. He knew that she would be excited to have her family back.

Oliver stepped out of the van first and he helped everyone else out before leading the way inside. As the group made it about half-way to the front door it swung open and Thea came running out.

"Ollie!" The screamed as she ran towards the group, clearly excited and relieved to have them back at home. She ran straight to her brother and tightly wrapped her arms around him hugging him tight.

Oliver saw Thea heading his direction and he braced himself for the inevitable impact that there was going to be when his sister made it to him. As prepared as he was though, Oliver was unable to keep a small, quiet grunt from escaping and a flash of pain on his face from showing when his sister slammed into him. He returned the hug when she wrapped her arms around him ignoring the flash of pain from his side, ribs, and back. Despite that however, Oliver was relieved when Thea finally let go of him and moved on to their Mom. He took a deep breath as he turned to the rest of the group **,** purposefully ignoring the looks of disbelief from Laurel, Lance, Walter, and his Mom. He knew that they would have something to say about it later but chose to move inside for now.

As the group slowly walked inside Sara watched Oliver for any signs of pain. She knew that he had to be hurting again no small amount thanks to Thea slamming into him and trying to squeeze the life out of him. She knew that she would need to check some of his bandages pretty quick to make sure his wounds were not bleeding again.

"Welcome home again Mrs. Queen, Mr. Steele, Oliver." Raisa said with a smile as the group filled the entryway. "There are light snacks in the sitting room and dinner will be ready at six." She informed them.  _ **  
**_

"Thank you Raisa." Oliver said with a smile as most of the group moved to the sitting room. As Oliver turned to head that way too, Felicity walked up to him and laid a hand on his arm to stop him.

"I know you're in pain Oliver. You may have been able to hide it from everyone else, but I saw it!" Felicity stated quietly to Oliver. She gave him a small reassuring smile, wanting him to know that the Team had his back, still. "We should head upstairs and redo some of your bandages, they are starting to bleed through again." She pointed out as Sara walked up to them with the medical bags.

"Felicity's right Oliver. Your back is bleeding again as well as your side and it's starting to show through your shirt a bit. Let's head upstairs to your room. Diggle can let everyone know we'll be down in a bit." Sara said as she headed towards the stairs.

Oliver tried to ignore the pain in his body as he slowly made his way up to his room so that they could change some of his bandages. He was thankful that his Team was looking out for him.

* * *

_**Thea's POV** _

Thea heard the van pull in to the driveway and ran towards the front door. Her family had been missing for a few days and she was extremely worried about them. When Walter had come to talk to her in the Club she was so thankful that everyone was out and okay. She had been slightly worried when he mentioned that everyone was undergoing medical treatment, but she figured that it was simply routine as Walter hadn't said otherwise and she was sure he would have told her if there were any major injuries.  _ **  
**_

Thea ran out the front door and straight to the first person that she saw, Oliver. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tight as she could. She was so excited to have her family back again and she never wanted to let them out of her sight for the rest of her life - especially as it wasn't the first time that Oliver and Walter had disappeared on her.

After holding on to Oliver for a minute Thea turned and went to her Mom, and then Walter, giving each of them huge hugs as well before the group all headed inside where Raisa was waiting with a bit of food to hold them over until dinner was ready. She went with her Mom and Walter into the sitting room and sat down between them, enjoying their presence.

"Where's Ollie." Thea asked when she noticed her brother was not in the room with them.

"He went upstairs for a few minutes. He'll be down soon." Diggle replied as he turned to talk to another security guard.

She turned her attention to the television as a news report came on and listened closely to what the reporter had to say.

_"Breaking News: We just received word that a group of Starling City residents who had been recently abducted have been rescued and returned home. Walter Steele, Quentin and Laurel Lance, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, and Moira and Oliver Queen were all abducted in the last week and were being held in a warehouse in the Glades by Malcom Merlyn. There is evidence that the Arrow was there as well as his jacket and hood were both found in the warehouse. Questions are being asked as to why this particular group of people was taken. Both the Lance and the Queen families had of course known Malcom Merlyn for many years. However, Ms. Smoak had no connection to him – not so to the Arrow though as sources within the Starling City Police Department have revealed that Ms. Smoak was interviewed last year over her connection to the Vigilante himself – on the very day of the Earthquake that killed 503 residents of the Starling City, including Merlyn's own son Tommy. There were of course reports of the Vigilante being present at CNRI where you will recall Tommy Merlyn Died." **  
**_

"I'll be back in just a second Mom." Thea said as she stood up. She wanted to go check on Oliver and see if he was coming down any time soon. As she stepped out of the door though she overheard a comment from Laurel that she was  _not_ expecting.  _ **  
**_

"I still can't believe that we had to watch as Malcolm ripped into Oliver's back with that whip! It would have been bad enough just knowing that the Arrow was getting that treatment, but knowing it was Oliver…." Laurel stated quietly in response to the news report.

"I know Laurel, but he's going to be fine. You saw that for yourself." Lance replied just as quietly.

 _Wait, what? Malcolm whipped Oliver's back? Or was it the Arrow's? And what was that comment about it was bad enough knowing it was the Arrow but worse knowing it was Oliver?_ Thea thought on her way up the stairs. She was confused, and scared at what she had heard, and was genuinely worried for her brother.  _Has he really been whipped?_  She was shaken at the mere thought of it and was determined to get some answers before the day was over. As Thea walked up to Oliver's room she heard voices inside and paused right outside the door.

"Oliver, are you sure you're going to be okay without pain meds? Your back looks like it still hurts really bad." Thea heard Felicity say.  _Why is his IT tech up here instead of Laurel, or his bodyguard?_  She thought.

"I'm fine Felicity." Oliver responded. Thea didn't miss the pain in his voice, or the hiss that came right after.

"Obviously Ollie, we all know that you are  _fine_. Now sit still and let me work!" Sara said, and Thea didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice. "I still can't believe that Malcolm used a whip! I knew he was cruel but that's a whole new level."

"He was really mad at me, at the Arrow. At least he wasn't able to continue as long as he had hoped." Oliver said quietly.

Thea threw open the door to Oliver's room, she had heard enough and was going to demand that Oliver finally give her some answers. However what she was not prepared for was the sight of Oliver sitting with his bare back to the door. There were deep gashes all across his back, and those that needed it seemed to have been stitched up. Despite that however, Thea could see that they were still bleeding some.  _They were right! He has been whipped_ _!_  Thea thought as tears streamed down her face, she was horrified at the sight of her brother with such serious injuries.

_**Mixed POV** _

"Ollie?" Thea yelled, concern and fear evident in her voice. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Thea!" Felicity was completely shocked when the younger woman walked into the room. She didn't even realize that there was anyone outside the room. She looked to Oliver who didn't seem surprised that his sister was there.  _Of course, he heard her outside. Wait! That means that he knows she heard us talking. I wonder if he is going to tell her._  Felicity wondered.

"Thea." Oliver said quietly, turning to look at his sister. He could tell that what she had heard had really shaken her up and he knew he had some explaining to do.

"Laurel said she watched the Arrow being whipped. She said that it was hard seeing that, but what was worse was knowing that it was you. She said that you are the Arrow. Is it true?" Thea was an emotional wreck at this point and couldn't help her voice from wavering as she was talking to her brother, but she was determined that he was finally going to give her the truth.

"Yes Thea, I am the Arrow!"


	26. Siblings

_**Mixed POV** _

"How are you the Arrow? Why didn't you tell me? What the  _hell_  happened to you?" Thea asked with tears in her eyes. She could not believe that Oliver was the Arrow and that he had been able to, and had wanted to, keep it a secret from her. She was hurt that he didn't trust her.

Oliver slowly stood and walked to where Thea stood in the doorway. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small reassuring smile.

"Thea, I know you have a lot of questions right now and I promise I will answer some of them, but not right now. Yes, I  _am_  the Arrow. I didn't tell you because being close to me can cause people to get hurt. Just look at Mom, Walter, and the Lance's. They all didn't know who I was until this incident and the fact that they are close to me is the main reason that they were taken. I'll explain later, but for right this minute I need to let Sara finish her work or she's going to get irritated okay." Oliver gave Thea the brief explanation. He couldn't help the small laugh that came at the last words. He knew that Sara wouldn't say anything, but he was just trying to lighten the tension in the room.

"What happened?" Thea asked with concern as Oliver turned to go back to his chair.

"Malcolm Merlyn was extremely upset about the fact that his Undertaking did not go as planned. He blamed each one of us for having a part in that and he wanted to punish us for it." Felicity briefly explained as she brought Thea over to sit down and talk while Sara finished taking care of Oliver. She knew the young woman would need some explanation as to what happened and she decided to help out with that so that not all of it would be left to Oliver, especially since he was still in so much pain.  _Not that he's going to admit it._

"Did he really whip you Oliver?" Thea asked with genuine concern and disbelief that anyone would actually do that to another person.

"Yes Speedy. Malcolm was mad at me more than anyone and wanted me to feel the most amount of pain out of anyone there." Oliver replied honestly. He knew that he would not be able to keep secrets from Thea as he had in the past and he decided that this was the time to start with that honesty, no matter how hard it was.

"How many times did he whip you?" Thea asked, a bit more calmly since Oliver was finally talking to her and Felicity was sitting next to her in support as well.

"Several. He had a lot of anger that he had to get out Thea." Oliver replied. He was trying not to worry her further, but was unable to keep the seriousness from his voice. Even he was still working through dealing with what had happened. "But you don't have to worry. Sara knows what she's doing and has stitched up the places that needed it and has bandaged me up just fine. I actually kind of feel a bit like a mummy." He finished with a smile, trying to get Thea to realize that he really was okay now.

"What else did he do to you? Did he cut you? Are those burns?" Thea asked as she had noticed that there were bandages on his chest as well. "What happened to your side?"

"Yes, he gave me a few cuts and yes, they are burns. As for my side, he decided that he wanted to shoot me." Oliver said, again being completely honest with his sister. "Felicity was able to take care of my side and the burns right after they happened so you don't have to worry about that." He explained, looking to Felicity with a look of sincere gratitude. Thea didn't miss the love in his eyes either.  _Does Ollie love Felicity?_

"What happened to your shoulder?" Thea asked pointing to the bandage on his right shoulder.

"The same thing that happened to Felicity's. Malcolm was the Dark Archer that plagued the City a while back. He chose to use an arrow on the Arrow." Oliver stated with a bit of a chuckle. "Kind of ironic isn't it?"

"He shot you too?" Thea asked, turning to Felicity and noticing her arm in a sling for the first time. She had been too focused on Oliver and all of his injuries to really notice that the blonde was injured as well. She felt bad now that she hadn't noticed and wanted to check if she was alright. "Are you okay Felicity?"

"I'm fine Thea, thank you for asking." Felicity said with a smile to reassure Thea. "He knew that I have been working with Oliver for a while and he knew that I talked Detective Lance through disarming the first of the earthquake machines. He thought that by cutting me with one of Oliver's arrows and then shooting one of his own through my shoulder that I would become afraid of them. I can't say I like them too much right now, but he did  _not_  succeed in making me afraid. I trust Oliver too much to let myself be scared of the tools that he uses to keep the city safe." Felicity wanted both Oliver and Thea to know that Malcolm had not succeeded in his plan. If anything, he had made her trust Oliver and his abilities even more. "Besides, now I have a second scar." She said with a great deal of pride in her voice and a huge grin on her face.

"We have matching scars." Oliver said thoughtfully as he looked at Felicity with a grin on his face.

Sara could no longer contain her laughter. Not only was Felicity letting everyone know that Malcolm was an idiot to think that he could turn her against Oliver, but she was bragging about her scar and Oliver was grinning like an idiot over the fact that they had matching scars.  _Never get between Felicity and Oliver. Will the scum of the city ever learn that one?_  Sara thought as she finished with the bandages on Oliver's back.

"Ollie, your back is done but I need to redo your side." Sara said to Oliver letting him know that she was almost done.

"I squeezed you! Did I hurt you Ollie because I totally didn't mean to. I didn't know you were hurt! Why didn't you say anything?" Thea asked, concern evident in her voice as she became agitated again.

"Thea. I'm fine. We were going to need to redo the bandages anyway. This is as good a time as any. Don't worry, you didn't hurt me!" Oliver said turning to Thea again. He wanted to be honest with her now, but didn't want her to feel guilty so he kept the fact that it had actually hurt and still did, a lot, to himself. Well, he and Felicity, and Sara, and Diggle, and Roy probably noticed too. Okay, but he didn't want any non-Team Arrow members to know though.

Felicity looked to Oliver. She knew that he had been hurting when Thea was hugging him, she had seen the slight look of pain on his face and heard the hiss of pain upon impact. He was not fooling her and she knew that Sara knew it too. Oliver was, yet again, trying to protect the ones that he loved.

"Done. You are good to go as long as you don't move." Sara said sarcastically – again. She was trying to make sure that the mood stayed light despite the circumstances.

"So, how did you guys get out of there anyway?" Thea asked, trying to change the subject from the torture that she knew they had endured as evidenced by the wounds and bandages that she could see.

"We had a bit of help from the Black Canary and her friend." Oliver replied. He knew that Sara would not want Thea to know just yet that she was the Canary. Sara gave him a grateful look before she went to clean up from patching him up.

"The news said that the Arrow was there. They found your hood and jacket. How are you going to get that back?" Thea asked genuinely curious how he was going to get his stuff back from the cops.

"Detective Lance has taken care of that. They were returned earlier today and things were taken care of so that the cops can't identify me as the Arrow." Oliver explained, still extremely grateful to Lance for returning his hood and jacket. "Thea, what you now know about me being the Arrow, you can't tell anyone okay. If people knew who I really was then really bad things, worse than what has happened this last week, could happen and everyone I love could be in a lot of danger." Oliver wanted her to know that he was trusting her with the biggest secret of her life and she couldn't tell anyone. He needed her to realize how important it was.

"Does that mean I can't tell Roy?" Thea asked, half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"Can't tell me what?" Roy asked as he walked into the room. "Everyone's starting to wonder where you guys are." He explained to the questioning looks Thea and Felicity were giving him.

"Thea wanted to know if she could tell you that I'm the Arrow." Oliver supplied to his question.

"You mean he knows?" Thea asked, confused and curious.

"Yep, for quite a while now. I've been using his help to get information from the Glades." Oliver answered. He wanted Thea to know that Roy was helping him, doing good.

"You knew and didn't tell me! How could you Roy Harper." Thea said as she turned and punched him playfully in the arm. She was genuinely irritated but proud of him at the same time.

"It wasn't my place to tell." Roy stated matter of factly as he looked to Oliver to let him know that he was indeed keeping the secret.

"Wait a minute!" Thea said as she turned to Oliver with an accusing look. "You shot my boyfriend!"

"I take that to mean that she knows now?" Diggle said. He had come looking for the group at Moira's request and walked in right as Thea turned accusingly to Oliver. He joined the rest of the group as they started to laugh.

"Hey! I'm being serious. How could you shoot him?" Thea was getting madder the more they laughed.

"Thea, he was just trying to protect me, protect us. He was working on a really dangerous case at the time and I was butting in where I shouldn't have been. If he hadn't have shot me then I would have followed him and probably gotten myself killed. It was totally my fault and I have since learned my lesson." Roy told Thea seriously. He wanted her to know that he didn't blame Oliver, nor did he hold a grudge against him.  _He was just doing what he thought he had to in order to keep Thea, Sin,_ _and I out of it. If he hadn't then_ _I really_ _would have probably_ _gotten myself killed._

"Fine, I'll drop it.  _For now!_ " Thea still wasn't ready to forgive Oliver right then but she was willing to at least put this argument off until later. Right now she just wanted to enjoy having her brother back and was extremely thankful that he was talking. "Don't think either of you are off the hook though." She said as she glared at Oliver and Roy.

"How you feeling man?" Diggle asked as he walked up to Oliver. He knew the younger man had been in a lot of pain when they first arrived and wanted to be sure that he was still doing okay.

"I'm fine. Sara's re-bandaged everything so I'm good now." Oliver said with a reassuring smile. He was still in pain but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. After all, he had been through a lot worse before.

"So what are you guys? His sidekicks or something?" Thea asked the group.

Not a single person in the room could hold back their laughter. This was the first time they had been called sidekicks. Oh they had been called a lot of things, a black driver, Abercrombie, and IT girl or blondie, but never sidekicks.

Oliver had a hard time controlling his laughter as he stepped up beside Thea, turning her so that she was standing where she could see the whole group. He had a huge, genuine smile on his face as he replied.

"Thea, meet Team Arrow!"


	27. Oliver

_**Mixed POV** _

"I still can't believe that of all people in Starling City Oliver is the Arrow!" Laurel was still shocked and confused over the matter. It had been obvious to her as soon as she saw the scars under the Arrow's jacket just who he was. She had seen those scars at least twice before and she would never forget them.  _I guess that explains why he is always disappearing suddenly and is_ _always late for things._  "I wonder what exactly happened on that Island that changed him so much."

"I'm sure a lot happened. As Felicity said it was  _five years_  and apparently nothing good happened to him during that time. I'm sure that none of us can really imagine what life was like for him there." Walter stated, vividly remembering the words Felicity had said earlier and the haunted look on her face when she said them. He was sure she must have heard those words from Oliver at some point and was simply repeating them.  _ **  
**_

"I know that he suffered, it's obvious from the scars on his body. However, what is more obvious to me is the fact that he grew into the man that he is today. He wasn't exactly on a great path when he left, but look at my boy now! He is capable of running a major company, he started his own business, and he is spending most of his free time helping the city. I don't think a mother can be more proud of her son than I am of Oliver." Moira stated with tears in her eyes. She really was proud of her son and was amazed at the man that he had become. She _never_ would have imagined that Oliver would be this responsible and caring, much less be willing and able to help the people of the city, including those in the Glades.  _He truly is a remarkable man._

"I had a hard time believing him when he told me he was tortured. I knew what the medical reports said and he even admitted to it during the polygraph, but to see what he went through the last few days, and to have barely made a sound." Lance shook his head still in awe that Oliver had been able to withstand the abuse to his body that he had so silently. He knew that he would never be able to go through that so quietly, he hadn't even managed a few hits from a police baton without letting out a few screams. "I know I have worked with him as the Arrow several times and he has amazing abilities. I guess I just never thought about what he goes through during those battles and the fact that I've never once heard him cry out in pain. He even took a bullet for me!"

"He volunteered to take my place as well." Walter stated quietly. He still vividly remembered when Oliver stepped up to take his punishment. He had only had to endure a couple of tazer burns and yet Oliver volunteered to take his place and was shocked and burned by that generator. Walter realized that he probably owed his life to Oliver, again.  _He truly is a remarkable young man_.

Moira was sitting quietly next to Walter. She knew that everything that was being said about Oliver was true and she couldn't help but feel responsible. If she and Robert hadn't gotten involved with Malcolm and the Undertaking than Oliver never would have been on the Gambit, he would not have been stranded on the Island, he would not have had to endure the torture that had beeninflicted upon him. However, she also had to realize that if that had not happened thenhe would not be the man that he is today. Because of everything that he had to endure, and all the hard decisions that he had to make, he grew into the man that she always knew he could be and so much more.

Moira stood and walked to the window, she didn't want everyone to see the tears welling up in her eyes. She felt completely responsible for everything that had happened to her son. She needed to talk to him.  _I owe him an apology!_

"Mom?" Oliver asked. He had just come down the stairs with the rest of his Team to find his Mom staring out the window and he could tell that she was having a hard time dealing with everything. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to look at him. "Mom, talk to me."

"Oh Oliver, my beautiful boy. What did I do to you?" Moira said as she touched his cheek with tears in her eyes, she couldn't hold them back anymore.

Oliver pulled his mom into a tight hug. "Mom, what happened wasn't your fault. You had no way of knowing what would happen." He allowed all the emotion to be heard in his voice. He wanted to make sure that his mom knew that he didn't blame her for anything. "The storm would have sunk the Gambit no matter what. No one could have known that was going to happen on that Island. Not even Malcolm." He turned so he could address everyone in the room. "As for what happened this last week, none of you are at fault. He was going to hurt me one way or another and if I know Malcolm like I think I do then he would have found a way to get me there and would have done those things to me no matter who was there. I'm not perfect, or invincible. He had almost stopped me before and I know he would have found a way to do it again. Having you all there, that's what kept me going, determined. I knew that as long as I didn't give up I could keep him from hurting any of you. What happens to me, that doesn't matter as long as you guys are safe."

Everyone was silent after Oliver spoke. Each dealing with their own thoughts. They each knew that Oliver was right and that they were not responsible for what had happened. Malcolm was an evil man and had wanted Oliver out of the picture for a long time and nothing that they could have done would have stopped him for torturing and potentially killing Oliver.

Oliver looked up to see Raisa standing in the doorway. She had unshed tears in her eyes as she looked at Oliver and he knew that she had heard most of what had been said.

"Looks like dinner's ready." Oliver said cheerily to the group gathered there. They all slowly started to get up and head towards the dining room.

As Oliver walked past Raisa she laid a hand on his arm. "I always knew you had a good heart Oliver." She said softly in Russian.

"You always saw the good in me Raisa. Thank you." Oliver replied in equally fluent Russian before turning to follow the rest into the dining room.

After a nice dinner full of fun conversation and lots of laughs they all started to head to their rooms for a good night's sleep. They were all exhausted from the events of the last few days and none of them had gotten any decent sleep.

* * *

 

It had been about three hours since everyone had gone to their rooms to sleep. Oliver had been sitting on the window seat in his room looking out at the starry sky. He had been replaying the events of the last few days, trying to figure out if there was a way that he could have gotten everyone out sooner, if he could have done anything differently to keep them from getting hurt. Suddenly he heard screams from just down the hall. He quickly stood and walked towards the room where the sounds were coming from.

As he walked into the room that the screams were coming from he found that Felicity was in the middle of a nightmare. Oliver quickly walked into the room and over to her bed. Sara came into the room right behind him, obviously worried for her friend.

"Felicity." Oliver said quietly, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. It was obvious that she had not been sleeping well as the sheets were tangled around her legs. "Felicity, wake up. It's okay. Come on, wake up." He continued to talk to her as he gently shook her, trying to bring her out of her nightmare.

Felicity woke up suddenly to find Oliver sitting on her bed with a hand on her shoulder. As she looked around she saw Sara standing just inside the room, Diggle standing in the doorway, and Roy and Thea in the hallway behind him. They all wore looks of concern.

"Felicity, are you okay?" Oliver asked quietly, ignoring everyone else.

"I'm fine Oliver, I just had a nightmare is all." Felicity said so quietly that only Oliver and Sara heard her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Oliver asked, knowing that she would very likely tell him to just leave her alone. As she looked to the other side of the room Oliver looked to Sara silently asking her to get everyone out of there so that they could talk. She turned and herded everyone out of the room before silently closing the door. Oliver knew that either she or Diggle would be standing watch outside to make sure they were not disturbed.

"Malcolm was whipping you again but this time he didn't stop. He made me watch as you hung there. There was nothing I could do. You were in so much pain and I couldn't help you and he wouldn't stop. He kept going until you stopped breathing and even then he kept going." Felicity said quietly as she looked at the other side of the room. She didn't want Oliver to see her tears. "He killed you Oliver. He killed you and I had to watch!" Suddenly she couldn't hold her tears in anymore and she started sobbing.

Oliver simply pulled Felicity into his arms. "Shhhh, It's okay. I'm here and very much alive and he can't hurt either one of us anymore." He said quietly as he held her.

Felicity turned towards Oliver and buried her face in his chest as she cried. He carefully maneuvered them so that he was able to sit comfortably on her bed and held her close, keeping an arm around her. After a few minutes her breathing finally slowed and she fell back asleep in his arms.

Oliver held her throughout the night making sure that she slept well. She was  _his girl_  and he was going to protect her. Even from the nightmares.


	28. Training

**_Felicity's POV_ **

It had been three days, three days since they had been rescued, three days since Oliver's heart had stopped beating and three days since she knew that she loved him. It had been a very, very long three days for Felicity though. She had had her hands full trying to keep Oliver entertained in his own home so that he would not return to the foundry too soon and try and train and spar with Sara, Diggle and Roy.

The group had spent the last three days talking over what had happened. Each person going over how he or she had been abducted by Malcolm and sorting through the memories that plagued each and every one of them. They all had demons to battle now but they were able to do it together. Oliver still didn't open up about what happened on the Island but he did talk about what had happened with Malcolm. He did so to help ease the pain and guilt of everyone else that was there. They all still had a lot of questions, and Oliver was trying to answer them, but there were some things that he just wasn't ready to talk about yet.

It was due to the fact that they all had cabin fever that Felicity suggested the dinner. She also knew that the Team was dying to get back into training and they weren't able to do so yet because it took all of them to keep Oliver from running away from the mansion on his Ducati. Something that Diggle knew firsthand about.

The plan was that the Team would head to the lair early afternoon and make sure everything was sorted out, take inventory of what supplies they needed, Felicity would get a head start on the search for the next Arrow target and the rest could run through a simple workout. Felicity knew that Oliver wouldn't want to do a light workout and she hoped that Sara and Diggle would find a way to keep him from pushing himself.

This is how Felicity found herself to be sitting at her precious computers on a sunny afternoon. It has been three days exactly since she heard Oliver's heart stop beating on the medical table just across the room from her. She was trying to keep herself focused on the present though by watching the Team at work.

Sara was currently on the Salmon Ladder warming up in preparation for the sparring that she was going to be doing with Diggle. Oliver was standing next to Roy and they were working on their target practice. Well, okay, Roy was working on his target practice, Oliver was just getting his muscles to work properly for him again. He was making sure that his left shoulder wasn't going to cause him any problems from the dislocation and he was stretching his right shoulder and arm again after the wound from the arrow. She didn't know why he bothered though, his form was still perfect and his aim was still even better.

Felicity turned back to her computers. She was trying to find the next target for Team Arrow to track down but surprisingly the city was quiet right now.  _That can either be a really good thing, or a really bad thing._  As she searched through news feeds she found that someone was shipping in military grade weapons again. She started a few searches to hopefully track down a couple of clues before she presented the new target to the Team.

Just as Felicity finished starting the searches she noticed that people were starting to arrive upstairs. She had told everyone to meet up by the bar in Verdant and she would bring them down from there. They were bringing lunch from Big Belly Burger and Felicity's stomach was growling so she was happy that they were finally here.

"I'm heading upstairs to grab everyone and bring down dinner." Felicity said to the Team as she headed to the stairs. She wasn't surprised when she didn't get a response from anyone, they were all too busy showing off to each other again.

Felicity walked into the bar just as Lance and Laurel were arriving with the last of the food. She noticed that everyone was a bit nervous and it didn't surprise her in the least. She knew that they were probably hesitant to go back downstairs after everything that happened last time they were there. Felicity couldn't help but smile to herself as she noticed that Laurel's split lip was still healing.  _Yeah, that's right, he kissed me not you gorgeous Laurel!_  Felicity thought, pleased that Oliver had finally shown her some of his true feelings.

"Hey guys, welcome!" Felicity addressed the group with a smile. "We are all so glad that you decided to come join us. If you all will just follow me I'll lead you downstairs." She finished as she turned to the club entrance to the lair.

Felicity could not help but give a small laugh as they descended the stairs. The last time they had all been down here Thea had not known who the Arrow was or anything. Now she not only knows but is about to find out that Oliver's secret Lair was under her club.

"You have got to be kidding me! His hideout is under  _my_  club?" Thea asked, clearly surprised. She had obviously not been expecting this.

"Yep, and technically it was his club when he started down here." Felicity replied with a huge smile on her face.

Felicity could not help but immediately begin looking for Oliver when she came back down the stairs. He was no longer doing target practice with Roy,  _who is standing too close to my babies for comfort._  It was Sara and Diggle who were on the mats training so that only left one place for Oliver to be hanging around, the Salmon Ladder.

Felicity heard the murmurs of surprise when everyone saw that Diggle and Sara were sparring on the mats with the metal batons. They were moving quickly, training hard and the clinking of the metal batons and their grunts gave evidence to how intense their workout was.

"Do they always fight like that?" Laurel asked, her voice laced with concern for her sister.

"Yes. They have to train hard in order to be at their best when they are on the streets. If you train hard, you fight easy." Felicity responded, trying to help the others understand why they work as hard as they do.

The clinking of the bar on the Salmon Ladder is what drew their attention next and Felicity was not surprised when she heard a small gasp from Moira as she noticed Oliver making his way up the ladder, shirtless. Felicity suspected that this group had not seen him shirtless except for when they were being held by Malcolm and so seeing him here, shirtless and working out was probably a shock.

"Oliver, what are you doing? You are going to hurt yourself again!" Moira cried as Oliver reached the top of the ladder again.

"I'm fine Mom, just getting back into shape after the last week." Oliver replied, not even out of breath.

Felicity could not help but stare at Oliver. She had always enjoyed watching him use the Salmon Ladder and that had not changed. However, now when she watched she actually did see scars. She saw the scar on his right shoulder from the arrow, she saw the scar in his side from the bullet, she saw the burn marks from the generator, but mostly she saw the scars on his back even when he was facing her. She could not forget what it was like to see all those injuries inflicted on him and it took all her will power to keep herself from letting the memories take over. She was getting better, but it was still hard.

Felicity smiled at the sounds of shock that she heard from everyone as Oliver quietly flipped and dropped to the ground. He walked over to the mats and was about to start sparring with Diggle and Sara when suddenly they stopped.

"Don't you even think about it Oliver. I do not want to have to redo any stitches on your back today." Sara said as she glared at Oliver who was now standing right next to her and Diggle.

"Would he actually do that even though his back is not completely healed?" Lance asked, surprised that Oliver was doing any type of workout at all.

"Yes Detective, he would." Diggle replied as he was trying to keep in his laughter. He knew that it would take a miracle to keep Oliver off the mats today. The man had been itching to spar since the day after they escaped from Malcolm.

"Would it make you feel better if I sparred with Roy first?" Oliver asked, much to Sara's amusement.

"Fine, you can spar with Roy. But when I have to re-stitch your back I don't want to hear any complaints." Sara said with a serious tone of voice, knowing that it would do not good to argue with Oliver right now.

Roy walked over to the mats to begin sparring with Oliver as Sara and Diggle walked towards the group. They began to set things out in preparation for dinner as they started to hear the grunts coming from the two men on the other side of the lair. Felicity was trying really hard not to think about what this was doing to his back.

"Don't worry. He's not getting hurt at all. We may have to do some touch up on his back when he is done but he won't have any real injuries." Felicity began to explain to the group. "He is simply training because he knows that he will be needed out in the city again soon and he needs to be in the best shape that he can be in at that time."

"Doesn't he know that he is doing his body more harm than good right now though?" Laurel asked, still shocked that he would choose to put himself in that position.

"Train hard, fight easy. If you can train when you are injured, or tired then when you are in battle and become injured and weary you will know that you can still go on to win. That's why our training is so important no matter what. We have to be ready for anything." Sara explained. This stopped any further questions from everyone, at least for a few minutes.

Finally after a few more minutes Oliver and Roy sparring the two men walked over towards the table that they had spread lunch out on. They had wanted everyone to see Oliver and Roy training right now because they needed to know that Team Arrow never quit, that they were still capable of protecting their city even after everything happened.

"Oliver, I warned you that you were going to pull a few stitches and you didn't listen. Now you get to sit here and not complain as I redo some of them." Sara said pretending to be agitated. It only took her a few moments to finish her work and they all sat down to their meal.

"I still can't believe that you train so soon especially after the injuries that you received. How could you suffer through so much so silently anyway?" Lance asked, genuinely curious about this new Oliver Queen that he was really just getting to know.

"I have been through a lot worse Detective. In all reality this was really nothing to be worried about so why bother giving Malcolm the satisfaction of hearing when he caused me pain." Oliver replied, hoping that his comments would end the conversation.

Unfortunately it was not going to work, however Felicity heard her computers give an alert just as Laurel was about to start saying something. She held her tongue however when Felicity jumped up and walked quickly to her computers. Everyone was too curious as to what that sound meant that they stopped their conversation for the moment.

"Oliver, I have a hit on some men who have been bringing military grade weapons into Starling City and selling them to kids in the Glades." Felicity said as she worked quickly at her computers.

Immediately Oliver, Sara, Diggle and Roy stood from the table and walked over to where she was sitting.

"What have you got Felicity?" Oliver asked as he placed a hand on the back of her computer chair and leaned over so he could see the details that she was pulling up on the computer.

"Looks like their main distribution point is about six blocks from here in an old abandoned bank building." Felicity replied as she began to pull up the blueprints for the building. She was also pulling video feed from the cameras in the area.

"Can you tell if they have any plans for distribution any time soon?" Roy asked, clearly irritated that someone was selling guns in the Glades again.

"Looks like they plan to sell a load tonight." Felicity said as she turned to the Team. "They plan to start in an hour."

The rest of the group was sitting at the table watching as Team Arrow switched into mission mode. They all moved to Felicity and her computers as one and seemed to know that a mission was imminent. They were all surprised at what Felicity had been able to find and were curious to see what the Team was going to do with the information.

Oliver looked up and made eye contact with each member of his Team, asking each one if they were ready to get back into the fight after their few days off. They all responded with a simple look that yes, they were ready to get back to work. Oliver gave a small nod of his head before saying.

"Would you guys like to see Team Arrow in action?" Oliver asked the group, knowing what the answer was going to be. As everyone responded with a yes he turned to grab his bow from the case before turning to his Team.

"Okay Team Arrow, suit up!"

* * *

**AN: This concludes this story. I would love to know if you all enjoyed it or not so please leave me a comment and let me know :)  As a New Year's present I will post the first chapter in the sequel "Teamwork" tomorrow :)  Have a wonderful New Years everyone!**


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